[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 183 (Thursday, December 1, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8156-S8157]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 33--REORGANIZING THE NEED TO IMPROVE 
 PHYSICAL ACCESS TO MANY FEDERALLY FUNDED FACILITIES FOR ALL PEOPLE OF 
        THE UNITED STATES, PARTICULARLY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

  Mr. BLUMENTHAL submitted the following concurrent resolution; which 
was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions:

                             S. Con Res. 33

       Whereas in 2009, 12 percent of all people in the United 
     States reported having some disability;
       Whereas in 2008, 16.9 percent of veterans, amounting to 
     more than 13,000,000 people, reported having a service-
     related disability to the Department of Veterans Affairs;
       Whereas according to the Current Population Survey of the 
     Bureau of the Census, the number of people in the United 
     States that report having a disability is at a 20-year high;
       Whereas the Act entitled ``An Act to insure that certain 
     buildings financed with Federal funds are so designed and 
     constructed as to be accessible to the physically 
     handicapped'', approved August 12, 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4151 et 
     seq.), referred to in this preamble as the ``Architectural 
     Barriers Act of 1968'', was enacted to ensure that certain 
     federally funded facilities are designed and constructed to 
     be accessible to people with disabilities and requires that 
     physically handicapped persons have ready access to, and use 
     of, post offices and other Federal facilities;
       Whereas automatic doors, though not mandated by either the 
     Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 or the Americans with 
     Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), provide a 
     greater degree of self-sufficiency and dignity for people 
     with disabilities, and the elderly, who may have limited 
     strength to open a manual door;
       Whereas a report commissioned by the Architectural and 
     Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (referred to in this 
     preamble as the ``Access Board''), an independent Federal 
     agency created to ensure access to federally funded 
     facilities for people with disabilities, recommends that all 
     new buildings used by the public should have at least 1 
     automated door at an accessible entrance, except for small 
     buildings where adding such a door may be a financial 
     hardship for the building owners;
       Whereas States and municipalities have begun to recognize 
     the importance of automatic doors in improving accessibility;

[[Page S8157]]

       Whereas the laws of the State of Connecticut require 
     automatic doors in certain shopping malls and retail 
     businesses, the laws of the State of Delaware require an 
     automatic door or calling device for newly constructed places 
     of accommodation, and the laws of the District of Columbia 
     have a similar requirement;
       Whereas the Facilities Standards for the Public Buildings 
     Service published by the General Services Administration 
     requires automation of at least 1 exterior door for all newly 
     constructed or renovated facilities managed by the General 
     Services Administration, including post offices;
       Whereas from 2006 to 2011, 71 percent of the complaints 
     received by the Access Board regarding the Architectural 
     Barriers Act of 1968 concerned a post office or other 
     facility of the United States Postal Service;
       Whereas the United States Postal Service employs 
     approximately 596,000 people, making it the second-largest 
     civilian employer in the United States;
       Whereas approximately 7,000,000 people per day visit 1 of 
     the more than 36,400 post offices in the United States; and
       Whereas the United States was founded on principles of 
     equality and freedom, and these principles require that all 
     people, even those people with disabilities, are able to 
     engage as equal members of society: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) recognizes the immense hardships that people with 
     disabilities in the United States must overcome every day;
       (2) reaffirms its support of the Act entitled ``An Act to 
     insure that certain buildings financed with Federal funds are 
     so designed and constructed as to be accessible to the 
     physically handicapped'', approved August 12, 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
     4151 et seq.), commonly known as the ``Architectural Barriers 
     Act of 1968'' and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 
     (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), and encourages full compliance 
     with such Acts;
       (3) recommends that the United States Postal Service and 
     Federal agencies install power-assisted doors at post offices 
     and other federally funded facilities, as applicable, to 
     ensure equal access for all people of the United States; and
       (4) pledges to continue to work to identify and remove the 
     barriers that prevent all people of the United States from 
     having equal access to the services provided by the Federal 
     Government.

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