[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 108 (Wednesday, July 21, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S6087]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 591--RECOGNIZING AND HONORING THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF 
      THE ENACTMENT OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OF 1990

  Mr. HARKIN submitted the following resolution; which was placed on 
the calendar:

                              S. Res. 591

       Whereas July 26, 2010, marks the 20th anniversary of the 
     enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990;
       Whereas the Americans with Disabilities Act has been one of 
     the most significant and effective civil rights laws passed 
     by Congress;
       Whereas, prior to the passage of the Americans with 
     Disabilities Act, people with disabilities faced 
     significantly lower employment rates, lower graduation rates, 
     and higher rates of poverty than people without disabilities, 
     and were too often denied the opportunity to fully 
     participate in society due to intolerance and unfair 
     stereotypes;
       Whereas the dedicated efforts of disability rights 
     advocates, including Justin Dart, Jr., and many others, 
     served to awaken Congress and the American people to the 
     discrimination and prejudice faced by individuals with 
     disabilities;
       Whereas Congress worked in a bipartisan manner to craft 
     legislation making such discrimination illegal;
       Whereas Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act 
     and President George Herbert Walker Bush signed the Act into 
     law on July 26, 1990;
       Whereas the purpose of the Americans with Disabilities Act 
     is to fulfill the Nation's goals of equality of opportunity, 
     independent living, economic self-sufficiency, and full 
     participation for Americans with disabilities;
       Whereas the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits 
     employers from discriminating against qualified individuals 
     with disabilities, requires that State and local governmental 
     entities accommodate qualified individuals with disabilities, 
     requires places of public accommodation to take reasonable 
     steps to make their goods and services accessible to 
     individuals with disabilities, and requires that new trains 
     and buses be accessible to individuals with disabilities;
       Whereas the Americans with Disabilities Act has played an 
     historic role in allowing over 50,000,000 Americans with 
     disabilities to participate more fully in national life by 
     removing barriers to employment, transportation, public 
     services, telecommunications, and public accommodations;
       Whereas the Americans with Disabilities Act has served as a 
     model for disability rights in other countries;
       Whereas all Americans, not just those with disabilities, 
     benefit from the accommodations that have become commonplace 
     since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 
     including curb cuts at street intersections, ramps for access 
     to buildings, and other accommodations that provide access to 
     public transportation, stadiums, telecommunications, voting 
     machines, and websites;
       Whereas Congress acted with overwhelming bipartisan support 
     in 2008 to restore protections for people with disabilities 
     by passing the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, which overturned 
     judicial decisions that had inappropriately narrowed the 
     scope of the Americans with Disabilities Act;
       Whereas, 20 years after the enactment of the Americans with 
     Disabilities Act, children and adults with disabilities 
     continue to experience barriers that interfere with their 
     full participation in mainstream American life;
       Whereas, 20 years after the enactment of the Americans with 
     Disabilities Act, people with disabilities are twice as 
     likely to live in poverty as their fellow citizens and 
     continue to experience high rates of unemployment and 
     underemployment;
       Whereas, 20 years after the enactment of the Americans with 
     Disabilities Act and 11 years after the Supreme Court's 
     decision in Olmstead v. L.C., many people with disabilities 
     still live in segregated institutional settings because of a 
     lack of support services that would allow them to live in the 
     community;
       Whereas, 20 years after the enactment of the Americans with 
     Disabilities Act, new telecommunication, electronic, and 
     information technologies continue to be developed while not 
     being accessible to all Americans;
       Whereas, 20 years after the enactment of the Americans with 
     Disabilities Act, many public and private covered entities 
     are still not accessible to people with disabilities; and
       Whereas the United States has a responsibility to welcome 
     back and create opportunities for the tens of thousands of 
     working-age veterans of the Armed Forces who have been 
     wounded in action or have received service-connected injuries 
     while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation 
     Enduring Freedom: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes and honors the 20th anniversary of the 
     enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990;
       (2) salutes all people whose efforts contributed to the 
     enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act;
       (3) encourages all Americans to celebrate the advance of 
     freedom and the opening of opportunity made possible by the 
     enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act; and
       (4) pledges to continue to work on a bipartisan basis to 
     identify and address the remaining barriers that undermine 
     the Nation's goals of equality of opportunity, independent 
     living, economic self-sufficiency, and full participation for 
     Americans with disabilities.

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