[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 790 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 790
Recognizing and honoring the 27th anniversary of the Supreme Court
decision in Olmstead v. L.C.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 24, 2026
Ms. Duckworth (for herself, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Sanders, Mr.
Wyden, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Van Hollen,
Mr. Markey, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Lujan, Mr. Kim, Ms. Hassan, and Ms. Blunt
Rochester) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to
the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing and honoring the 27th anniversary of the Supreme Court
decision in Olmstead v. L.C.
Whereas there are over 70,000,000 adults with disabilities living in the United
States;
Whereas section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794) (referred
to in this resolution as ``section 504'') prohibits discrimination on
the basis of disability in all federally assisted programs or activities
and laid the foundation for the passage of the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) (referred to in this
resolution as ``the ADA)'';
Whereas, in 1977, the former Department of Health, Education, and Welfare issued
implementing regulations for section 504 requiring recipients of Federal
funds to provide services and programs in a manner that affords people
with disabilities an ``equal opportunity to obtain the same results, to
gain the same benefit, or to reach the same achievement, in the most
integrated setting appropriate to the person's'' needs (sections
84.4(b)(1)(iii) and 84.4(b)(2) of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations,
as in effect on the date of issuance);
Whereas, in 1978, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare issued a
similar rule requiring recipients of funds from the Department to
``administer programs and activities in the most integrated setting
appropriate to the needs of qualified'' persons with disabilities (43
Fed. Reg. 2132);
Whereas, in 1978, Congress amended section 504 to strengthen and clarify its
nondiscrimination requirements, thereby ratifying the 1977 and 1978
regulations and incorporating the regulations into the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973;
Whereas, in the ADA, Congress found that the isolation and segregation of
individuals with disabilities is a serious and pervasive form of
discrimination;
Whereas, through passage of the ADA, Congress intended that forms of
discrimination prohibited under section 504 and its implementing
regulations, including unnecessary segregation, be prohibited under the
ADA as well;
Whereas, on June 22, 1999, the Supreme Court in Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581
(1999) (referred to in this resolution as ``the Olmstead decision''),
held that under the ADA, States must offer qualified individuals with
disabilities the choice to receive their long-term services and support
in a community-based setting;
Whereas the Supreme Court recognized in the Olmstead decision that
``institutional placement of persons who can handle and benefit from
community settings perpetuates unwarranted assumptions that persons so
isolated are incapable or unworthy of participating in community life'';
Whereas the Supreme Court further recognized that ``confinement in an
institution severely diminishes the everyday life activities of
individuals, including activities involving family relations and social
contacts, work options, economic independence, educational advancement,
and cultural enrichment.'';
Whereas the Olmstead decision and the integration mandate of the ADA and section
504 have repeatedly been affirmed by courts across the United States, by
Congress, and in Federal regulations and guidance, prohibiting States
from forcing people with disabilities into segregated settings, such as
psychiatric hospitals, nursing homes, segregated schools, and sheltered
workshops, when those people could be served in their homes and
communities;
Whereas, as a result of the integration mandate, many individuals with
disabilities have been able to live in their own homes and community-
based settings, rather than institutional settings, and to become
productive members of the community, particularly through access to
home- and community-based services through the Medicaid program under
title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) (referred
to in this resolution as ``the Medicaid program'');
Whereas, despite 5 decades of legal requirements, many individuals with
disabilities continue to live in segregated institutional settings,
where they face abuse and neglect and limitations on their individual
freedoms, including solitary confinement;
Whereas, on June 18, 2026, 4 days before the 27th anniversary of the Olmstead
decision, the Department of Justice issued a deeply flawed opinion that
rejects the integration mandate and threatens the hard-won progress
towards full integration of individuals with disabilities into society
in the United States;
Whereas the Department of Justice's opinion does not overrule decades-old
integration and nondiscrimination requirements under section 504, the
ADA, or the Olmstead decision; and
Whereas the Department of Justice admits in its own opinion that its
interpretation of the Olmstead decision is ``out of step with common
understanding of that decision within Federal courts'': Now, therefore,
be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) recognizes and honors the 27th anniversary of the
Supreme Court decision in Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581
(1999);
(2) salutes all people whose efforts have contributed to
the expansion of home- and community-based long-term services
and supports for individuals with disabilities;
(3) affirms the Olmstead decision's vital importance to
ending the unjustified institutionalization and segregation of
individuals with disabilities;
(4) condemns--
(A) the Department of Justice's incorrect and
arbitrary interpretation of the Olmstead decision and
its misperceptions about what Congress intended; and
(B) the recent cuts, and any future cuts, to the
Medicaid program, including the establishment of
burdensome work-reporting requirements and other
barriers, which puts the health of individuals with
disabilities at risk and hinders the progress made
since the enactment of section 504 and the ADA; and
(5) calls on--
(A) the Department of Justice to immediately
rescind its opinion that was issued on June 18, 2026,
concerning the integration mandate of title II of the
ADA and section 504; and
(B) Congress to work in a bipartisan manner to
reverse the biggest cut to Medicaid in history and
increase funding for home- and community-based
services.
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