IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1504 

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

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 1, 2010 

Mr. HOYER (for himself, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. UPTON, 

Mr. KENNEDY, Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. SMITH of 

Texas, Mr. NADLER of New York, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, 

Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. TOWNS, and Mr. COBLE) submitted 

the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation 

and Infrastructure, the Judiciary, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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; 


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•HRES 1504 IH 

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 

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 


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disabilities to participate more fully in national life by removing barriers to employment, transportation, public 

services, telecommunications, and public accommodations; 

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 epilepsy, diabetes, cancer, depression, and a wide range of 

other disabilities by passing the ADA Amendments Act 

of 2008, which overturned judicial decisions that had inappropriately narrowed the scope of the protected class 

under the Americans 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, the largest income support and health 

care programs continue to operate in a manner that exVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:23 Jul 02, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1504.IH HR1504

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pects people with significant disabilities to be outside the 

economic mainstream and have limited income and assets; 

Whereas, 20 years after the enactment of the Americans with 

Disabilities Act and nearly 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; 

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 House of Representatives— 

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; 


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1 (3) encourages all Americans to celebrate the 

2 advance of freedom and the opening of opportunity 

3 made possible by the enactment of the Americans 

4 with Disabilities Act; and 

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

6 basis to identify and address the remaining barriers 

7 that undermine the Nation’s goals of equality of op8 portunity, independent living, economic self-suffi9 ciency, and full participation for Americans with dis10 abilities. 

Æ 


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