[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 51 (Friday, March 22, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2606-S2607]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 31--RECOGNIZING THE NEED TO IMPROVE 
 PHYSICAL ACCESS TO MANY FEDERALLY FUNDED FACILITIES FOR ALL PEOPLE OF 
        THE UNITED STATES, PARTICULARLY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

  Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. Fetterman, Mr. Kelly, Ms. Duckworth, 
Mr. Casey, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. Van Hollen) submitted the 
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions:

                            S. Con. Res. 31

       Whereas the First Amendment to the Constitution prevents 
     Congress from making any law respecting an establishment of 
     religion, prohibiting the free exercise of religion, or 
     abridging the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, 
     the right to peaceably assemble, or to petition for a 
     governmental redress of grievances, and was adopted on 
     December 15, 1791, as 1 of the 10 amendments that constitute 
     the Bill of Rights;
       Whereas the Bill of Rights, specifically the First 
     Amendment to the Constitution, calls for the right of all 
     persons to peaceably assemble, and to this end, all persons, 
     regardless of their physical ability, shall be offered equal 
     opportunity to access all federally funded, in whole or part, 
     amenities;
       Whereas, in the 33 years since Congress enacted the 
     Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et 
     seq.), there have been unprecedented advances in all forms of 
     technology, typified by automatic doors;
       Whereas, in 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and 
     Prevention found that 1 in 4 adults, or 61,000,000 people, 
     have a disability;
       Whereas disability is a universal concern, as an aging 
     population increases the incidence of frailty and disability;
       Whereas, as significant advances in medical treatment 
     result in increased survival rates, the incidence of 
     disability increases;
       Whereas, in 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that 
     5,400,000 veterans received service-related disability 
     benefits;
       Whereas, in 2023, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that 
     the unemployment rate of persons with a disability was twice 
     that of nondisabled adults;
       Whereas, in 2023, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that 
     people of color have the highest disability rates in the 
     United States;
       Whereas Congress enacted the Architectural Barriers Act of 
     1968 (42 U.S.C. 4151 et seq.) to ensure that certain 
     federally funded facilities are designed and constructed to 
     be accessible to people with disabilities;
       Whereas the United States Access Board (referred to in this 
     preamble as the ``Board'') recently issued a final rule on 
     accessibility guidelines for pedestrian facilities in the 
     public right-of-way that addresses various issues, including 
     access for blind pedestrians at street crossings, wheelchair 
     access to on-street parking, and various constraints posed by 
     space limitations, roadway design practices, slope, and 
     terrain;
       Whereas the new guidelines of the Board cover pedestrian 
     access to sidewalks and streets, including crosswalks, curb 
     ramps,

[[Page S2607]]

     street furnishings, pedestrian signals, parking, and other 
     components of public rights-of-way;
       Whereas the aim of the Board in developing new guidelines 
     is to ensure that access for persons with disabilities is 
     provided wherever a pedestrian way is newly built or altered, 
     and that the same degree of convenience, connection, and 
     safety afforded the public generally is available to 
     pedestrians with disabilities;
       Whereas, once the new guidelines developed by the Board are 
     adopted by the Department of Justice, they will become 
     enforceable standards under title II of the Americans with 
     Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12131 et seq.); and
       Whereas the United States was founded on principles of 
     equality and freedom, and those principles require that all 
     people, including 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 that people in the United States with 
     disabilities experience barriers to access on a daily basis;
       (2) reaffirms its support of the Architectural Barriers Act 
     of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4151 et seq.) and the Americans with 
     Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), and 
     encourages full compliance with those Acts; and
       (3) pledges to make universal and inclusive design a 
     guiding principle for all infrastructure bills and projects 
     and will continue working 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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