[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13783]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     CIVIL RIGHTS FOR THE DISABLED

  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise to enthusiastically 
support the legislation that we just debated on the floor of the House. 
Having been detained in my Committee on Transportation Security and 
Critical Infrastructure during the debate, I wanted to come and support 
H.R. 3195, the ADA Restoration Act of 2007. This is truly a civil 
rights initiative, and it is important to restore the basic support and 
rights of those who are disabled in America.
  Unfortunately, through the Supreme Court's narrow decision and 
definition of the word ``disability,'' it made it very difficult for 
individuals with serious health conditions such as epilepsy, diabetes, 
cancer, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, and severe intellectual 
impairments to prove that they qualify for protection under the ADA.
  The Supreme Court narrowed that definition in two ways: one by ruling 
that mitigation measures that help control an impairment, like medicine 
or hearing aids or other devices, must be considered a deserving 
disability; and, two, ruling that the elements of the definition must 
be interpreted strictly to create a demanding standard for qualifying 
as disabled.
  Mr. Speaker, enough is enough. The civil rights of all Americans are 
an important constitutional element. We hold these truths to be self-
evident that we are all created equal. This legislation, H.R. 3195, 
restores those rights. And I would like to affirm that my vote in the 
Judiciary Committee was a resounding ``yes.'' The fact that I was 
detained, I want that to be reflected in the report.
  This is an important bill. This bill is heavily supported, and I 
throw my support to a new civil rights law in America.

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