[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 115 (Monday, July 14, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1446-E1447]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  ORGANIZATIONS THAT SUPPORT H.R. 3195, THE ADA AMENDMENTS ACT OF 2008

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 14, 2008

  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Madam Speaker, I respectfully submit 
the following for inclusion in the Congressional Record. The first is a 
letter of support for H.R. 3195, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, and 
the second is a list of organizations that support this important 
legislation.
                                                    June 17, 2008.

 Help Secure the Promise of the ADA: Support the ADA Amendments Act of 
                                  2008

       Chairman Miller and Ranking Member McKeon. As you are 
     aware, the Committee today is poised to consider legislation 
     to secure the promise of the original Americans with 
     Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). The ADA has as its 
     fundamental goal the inclusion of people with disabilities in 
     all aspects of society, including employment for people who 
     are willing and able to work despite their disabilities.
       Unfortunately, court decisions over the last decade have 
     excluded individuals who should have been covered under the 
     current ADA law. These narrow court interpretations have 
     restricted ADA coverage for people with diabetes, epilepsy, 
     serious heart conditions, mental disabilities and even 
     cancer. As representatives of a broad cross-section of both 
     the employer and disability communities, we believe the 
     proposal before the Committee strikes an appropriate balance 
     between the needs of individuals with disabilities and those 
     of employers. The proposal includes the following key 
     provisions:
       Coverage under the ADA--The proposal clarifies that 
     Congress intended the ADA's coverage to be broad, to cover 
     anyone who faces unfair discrimination because of a 
     disability.
       Definition of Disability--The proposal retains the 
     requirement that an individual's impairment substantially 
     limits a major life activity in order to be considered a 
     disability and an individual must demonstrate that he or she 
     is qualified for the job.
       Protection for Mitigating Measures--The proposal would 
     overturn several court decisions to provide that people with 
     disabilities not lose their coverage under the ADA simply 
     because their condition is treatable with medication or can 
     be addressed with the help of assistive technology.
       Regarded As--The proposal includes a ``regarded as'' prong 
     as part of the definition of disability which covers 
     situations where an employee is discriminated against because 
     of his or her actual or perceived impairment. Moreover, the 
     proposal makes it clear that

[[Page E1447]]

     accommodations do not need to be made to someone who is 
     disabled solely because he or she is ``regarded as'' 
     disabled.
       Chairman Miller and Ranking Member McKeon, we firmly 
     support this legislation and we stand ready to work with you 
     to enact this legislation this year. We thank you for 
     addressing the important issue and look forward to working 
     with the House of Representatives to secure its passage.
           Sincerely,
       American Association of People with Disabilities; American 
     Diabetes Association; Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law; 
     Epilepsy Foundation; HR Policy Association; International 
     Franchise Association; Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; 
     National Association of Manufacturers; National Disability 
     Rights Network; National Council on Independent Living; 
     National Restaurant Association; Society for Human Resource 
     Management; U.S Chamber of Commerce.
                                  ____


          Supporters of H.R. 3195--ADA Amendments Act of 2008

                       193 NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

                             June 25, 2008

       AARP; AARP Foundation; ADA Watch/National Coalition for 
     Disability Rights; Air Force Association; Air Force Sergeants 
     Association; Air Force Womens Officers Association; Alexander 
     Graham Bell Association for the Deaf; Alpha-1 Association; 
     Alpha-1 Foundation; ALS Association; Alzheimer's Foundation; 
     American Academy of Nursing; American Association for 
     Respiratory Care; American Association of Diabetes Educators; 
     American Association of People with Disabilities, AAPD; 
     American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association; American 
     Cancer Society Network; American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU; 
     American Council of the Blind; American Diabetes Association.
       American Federation of Government Employees; American 
     Foundation for the Blind; American GI Forum of the U.S.; 
     American Islamic Congress; American Jewish Committee; 
     American Kidney Fund; American Liver Foundation; American 
     Lung Association; American Mental Health Counselors 
     Association; American Network of Community Options and 
     Resources; American Psychological Association; Americans for 
     Democratic Action; AMVETS; Anti-Defamation League; APSE: The 
     Network on Employment; Arthritis Foundation; Asian American 
     Justice Center; Association of Assistive Technology Act 
     Programs, ATAP; Association of Jewish Family & Children's 
     Agencies; Association of Jewish Family & Children's Agencies.
       Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living, 
     APRIL; Association of University Centers on Disabilities, 
     AUCD; Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America; Autism 
     Society of America; Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law; 
     Blind Veterans Association; Brain Injury Association of 
     America; Breast Cancer Network of Strength; Care4Dystonia, 
     Inc.; Catholic Charities Disabilities Services; Central 
     Conference of American Rabbis; Children and Adults with 
     Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder; Common Cause; 
     Community Action Partnership; Community Health Charities of 
     America; Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, CCD; COPD 
     Foundation; Council for Learning Disabilities; Council of 
     State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation, CSAVR.
       Disabled American Veterans; Disciples Justice Action 
     Network, Disciples of Christ; Division on Developmental 
     Disabilities; Easter Seals; Enlisted Association of the 
     National Guard of the United States; Epilepsy Foundation; 
     Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Federally Employed 
     Women, FEW; Friends Committee on National Legislation; 
     Friends Committee on National Legislation; Friends of the 
     National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research; Guide 
     Dog Foundation for the Blind, Inc.; Hearing Loss Association 
     of America; Hindu American Foundation; HR Policy Association; 
     Human Rights Campaign; Huntington's Disease Society of 
     America; Hydrocephalus Association; International Franchise 
     Association; International Union, United Auto Workers; 
     International Ventilator Users Network; Iraq & Afghanistan 
     Veterans of America.
       Islamic Society of North America; Jewish Council for Public 
     Affairs; Jewish Labor Committee;p Jewish Reconstructionist 
     Federation; Jewish War Veterans of the USA; Lambda Legal; 
     Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, LCCR; Learning 
     Disabilities Association of America, LDA; Learning 
     Disabilities of the Council for Exceptional Children; Legal 
     Momentum; Lupus Foundation of America; March of Dimes; Mental 
     Health America; Military Officers Association of America; 
     Military Order of the Purple Heart; Muslim Public Affairs 
     Council; Myasthenia Gravis Foundation for the Blind, Inc.
       NAACP; NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc.; 
     National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd; 
     National Alliance on Mental Illness, NAMI; National Alopecia 
     Areata Foundation; National Association for Black Veterans; 
     National Association for Employment of People who are Blind, 
     NAEPB; National Association for Uniformed Services; National 
     Association of Community Health Charities; National 
     Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities; 
     National Association of Governors' Committees on People with 
     Disabilities, NAGC; National Association of Law Students with 
     Disabilities; National Association of Manufacturers; National 
     Association of State Head Injury Administrators; National 
     Association of the Deaf; National Center for Environmental 
     Health Strategies, Inc.; National Center for Learning 
     Disabilities, NCLD; National Coalition of Mental Health 
     Consumer Survivor Organizations; National Congress of Black 
     Women, Inc.; National Council for Community Behavioral 
     Healthcare; National Council for Support of Disability 
     Issues; National Council of Churches.
       National Council of Jewish Women; National Council of 
     Jewish Women; National Council of La Raza, NCLR; National 
     Council on Disability; National Council on Independent 
     Living, NCIL; National Disability Rights Network, NDRN; 
     National Down Syndrome Congress; National Down Syndrome 
     Society; National Education Association; National Employment 
     Lawyers Association; National Fair Housing Alliance; National 
     Family Caregivers Association; National Federation of 
     Filipino American Associations, NaFFAA; National Health 
     Council, National Industries for the Blind, NIB; National 
     Kidney Foundation, National Legal Aid and Defender 
     Association; National Marfan Foundation; National Multiple 
     Sclerosis; Society National Organization for Women.
       National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, NOFAS; 
     National Partnership for Women and Families; National 
     Psoriasis Foundation; National Rehabilitation Association; 
     National Respite Coalition; National Restaurant Association; 
     National Spinal Cord Injury Association; National Vocational 
     Evaluation and Career Assessment Professionals, VECAP; 
     National Women's Law Center; National Youth Leadership 
     Network; Naval Reserve Association; NETWORK: A National 
     Catholic Social Justice Lobby; Non-Commissioned Officers 
     Association; Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation; Paralyzed 
     Veterans of America; Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy; 
     People For the American Way; Post-Polio Health International; 
     Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., Washington Office; Prevent 
     Blindness America.
       RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association; Self 
     Advocates Becoming Empowered; Sikh American Legal Defense and 
     Education Fund, SALDEF; Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation; 
     Society for Human Resource Management; Spina Bifida 
     Association; TASH: The Arc of the United States; The Autistic 
     Self-Advocacy Network; The Council of Parent Attorneys and 
     Advocates, Inc.; The Episcopal Church; The International Post 
     Polio Support Organization; The International Post-Polio Task 
     Force; The LAM Foundation; The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society; 
     The National Foundation for Ectodermal Dysplasias; The Paget 
     Foundation; The Salvation Army, United States; The Workmen's 
     Circle/Arbeter Ring.
       U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Union for Reform Judaism; 
     Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations; United 
     Cerebral Palsy; United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness 
     Ministries; United Jewish Communities; United Methodist 
     Church, General Board of Church and Society; United Spinal 
     Association; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; 
     United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism; US Psychiatric 
     Rehabilitation Association; Us TOO International; Veterans of 
     Modern Warfare; Vietnam Veterans of America.

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