III 

Calendar No. 475 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 591 

Recognizing and honoring the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the 

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 21, 2010 

Mr. HARKIN submitted the following resolution; which was ordered to be 

placed on the calendar 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing and honoring the 20th anniversary of the 

enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. 

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 


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•SRES 591 PCS 

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; 


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•SRES 591 PCS 

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 theAmericans 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; 


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•SRES 591 PCS 

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 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes and honors the 20th anniversary 

3 of the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities 

4 Act of 1990; 

5 (2) salutes all people whose efforts contributed 

6 to the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities 

7 Act; 

8 (3) encourages all Americans to celebrate the 

9 advance of freedom and the opening of opportunity 

10 made possible by the enactment of the Americans 

11 with Disabilities Act; and 

12 (4) pledges to continue to work on a bipartisan 

13 basis to identify and address the remaining barriers 

14 that undermine the Nation’s goals of equality of op15 portunity, independent living, economic self-suffiVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:26 Jul 22, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR591.PCS SR591

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•SRES 591 PCS 

1 ciency, and full participation for Americans with dis2 abilities. 


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Calendar No. 475 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 591 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing and honoring the 20th anniversary of 

Act of 1990. the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities 

JULY 21, 2010 

Ordered to be placed on the calendar 


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