[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 11 (Tuesday, February 8, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 8, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
       UNFUNDED MANDATES AND THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT

  Mr. METZENBAUM. Mr. President, I rise today to address the issue of 
unfunded mandates.
  This has become a hot topic these days. I have heard many reports 
about State and local governments complaining about Federal statutes 
such as the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Air Act. Local 
officials complain that they do not have the funds in their budgets to 
comply with the requirements of these laws.
  I can understand their frustration. Stretching tight dollars for 
necessary programs has become the standard operating procedure around 
here. But, I am also particularly troubled by the comments and 
complaints about one statute; the Americans With Disabilities Act.
  When this legislation was passed 4 years ago, it was hailed as a 
landmark civil rights bill. It secured fundamental and basic civil 
rights for the estimated 43 million Americans with physical or mental 
disabilities. Under the Americans With Disabilities Act [ADA], employer 
discrimination against persons with disabilities would become a thing 
of the past.
  A person in a wheelchair would have the same access to a public 
building as any other citizen. A disabled person would no longer face 
exclusion and segregation; inclusion in mainstream society would no 
longer remain an elusive dream, but would be an attainable goal. And 
yet, the Americans who have struggled with disabilities, 
discrimination, and often the callous disregard of society, now hear 
the chorus of those on the unfunded mandate bandwagon that the ADA is 
an unfair burden.
  On one news broadcast, a mayor of a large city in my State complained 
that the citizens of his community may have to do without some services 
because of the cost of complying with the ADA. Well, some citizens in 
some communities around the country have gone without services for the 
past 20 years because they were disabled.
  They have been the ones who have gone without access to city hall. 
They have been the ones who have been passed by when the bus came down 
the street. They have been the ones who have borne their share of 
unfair burdens. And now, after they have been empowered under the ADA 
to gain access to public buildings and gain access to Government 
services, the local and State governments are starting to balk at 
implementing the act.
  Some officials want Congress to scale back the act. Some officials 
have even complained that they will implement the act when Congress 
appropriates funds for it. Well, to be frank, we have been providing 
funding for many of these communities for the past 20 years.
  Under the antidiscrimination provisions of the Rehabilitation Act of 
1973, any public or private entity that received public funds had to be 
accessible to the disabled. So, for 20 years, many of these communities 
have received funds that could have been used to make services 
available for the disabled. Some advocates for the disabled community 
have even suggested that the State and local governments would not face 
the costs of implementing the ADA, if they had complied with section 
504 of the Rehabilitation Act beginning in 1973.
  However, we should not lose sight of the principal character and 
mission of the ADA in talking about how funds are available and how 
past funds were spent. The Americans With Disabilities Act is a civil 
rights bill. For many Americans who struggle every day with a 
disability, the passage of the ADA was a breath of fresh air. It has 
given hope to those who have been excluded from society.
  In his report on reinventing government, Vice President Gore has 
taken a strong stance on unfunded mandates. While I appreciate his 
concern and will work with him to accomplish many of the goals in his 
report, I hope that the ADA will be considered not just another 
unfunded mandate, but the landmark civil rights legislation that it 
truly is.
  I want to make my position clear on this subject. In the coming 
months, as unfunded mandates are debated on the floor of the Senate, I 
will not stand by if basic and fundamental rights for disabled 
Americans are denigrated in the name of saving a few dollars. Disabled 
citizens of our Nation have waited too long for rights provided by the 
ADA to see those rights swept away in the rhetoric against unfunded 
mandates.

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