Landmark Disability Rights Bill Gains Momentum; Nears Vote on House Floor

WASHINGTON, June 19, 2008—A historic alliance comprised of leading employer, civil rights and disability groups, has agreed to support legislation ensuring civil rights protections for millions of Americans with disabilities.

The alliance, led by the Epilepsy Foundation, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Society for Human Resource Management, and the American Association of People with Disabilities, has propelled amendments to the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act to a vote on the House floor, possibly by the end of next week. Key members of the alliance include the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Council of Independent Living Centers, the Human Resource Policy Association, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law and the National Disability Rights Network. The organizations join many other business, disability and civil rights organizations in supporting the new legislation.

The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 reaffirms civil rights protections dismantled by a series of Supreme Court decisions that narrowly interpreted the definition of disability, leaving people with epilepsy, diabetes, cancer and mental illness without the protections Congress envisioned when the ADA was originally enacted in 1990.

Business, human resource, disability and civil rights organizations have recognized that the courts went too far in some decisions, leaving out many people with disabilities Congress intended to protect. In a 2007 case, a Court even held that an individual with severe intellectual disabilities (“mental retardation”) was not covered by the ADA because he had failed to adequately demonstrate his impairment substantially limited a major life activity. The alliance of employer and disability advocacy organizations negotiated the compromise to clarify elements of the ADA Restoration Act, a bill first introduced in July of 2007.

The new compromise bill clarifies for the courts that people with disabilities should not lose civil rights protections because their condition is treatable with medication or can be addressed with the help of assistive technology. The bill also clarifies the definition of disability to include all individuals whose impairment substantially limits a major life activity.

Tom Donahue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, called the legislation “good for business, good for people with disabilities and good for our country.”

Former congressman and immediate past chair of the Epilepsy Foundation board of directors, Tony Coelho, who has epilepsy, said the legislation was important for people with disabilities because “a job is our dignity and an opportunity to participate in the American dream.” Coelho, a primary author of the ADA in 1990, added that the ADA Amendments Act “provides us the opportunity to work with the business community to get the jobs we’re best qualified to do.”

The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 was passed by the House Education and Labor Committee on June 18, 2008, by a vote of 43–1. The House Judiciary Committee heard testimony and passed the bill out of Committee on a unanimous favorable vote. The bill is expected to move quickly to the House floor where action may be taken as early as next week.