[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 125 (Friday, September 29, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1940]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




INTRODUCTION OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT RESTORATION ACT OF 
                                  2006

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                    HON. F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR.

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 29, 2006

  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, 16 years ago, a bipartisan Congress 
took significant steps to break down the physical and societal barriers 
that for far too long kept disabled Americans from fully participating 
in all aspects of American life. Prior to the Americans with 
Disabilities Act of 1990, commonly known as the ADA, disabled Americans 
were subjected to false stereotypes, experienced discrimination in 
almost all aspects of society, and were relegated to a form of second 
class citizenship.
  The ADA changed this by restoring the full meaning of equal 
protection under the law and all the promises that our Nation has to 
offer. Through the ADA and its broad protections from discrimination in 
employment, State and local government programs and services, places of 
public accommodation and services provided by private entities, 
transportation, and telecommunication services, disabled citizens have 
experienced increased opportunities, higher graduation rates, higher 
employment rates and lower rates of poverty. Because of this landmark 
civil rights law, disabled American citizens no longer live in 
isolation but live as independent, self sufficient members of our 
communities.
  However, beginning in 1999, through a trilogy of cases beginning with 
Sutton v. United Airlines, Inc., the Supreme Court has slowly chipped 
away at the broad protections of the ADA and has created a new set of 
barriers for disabled Americans. An oversight hearing held by the House 
Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution revealed that certain 
decisions of the Supreme Court have actually worked to exclude millions 
of disabled Americans from the ADA's protections, the very citizens 
that Congress expressly sought to include within the scope of the Act 
in 1990.
  The impact of these decisions is such that disabled Americans can be 
discriminated against by their employers because of their conditions, 
but they are not considered disabled enough by our Federal courts to 
invoke the protections of the ADA. This is unacceptable.
  The bipartisan legislation that I am introducing today will enable 
disabled Americans utilizing the ADA to focus on the discrimination 
that they have experienced rather than having to first prove that they 
fall within the scope of the ADA's protection. With this bill, the 
ADA's ``clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of 
discrimination on the basis of disability'' will be properly restored 
and the ADA can rightfully reclaim its place among our Nation's civil 
rights laws.

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