II 
Calendar No. 856 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3195 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
JUNE 26, 2008 
Received and read the first time 
JUNE 27, 2008 
Read the second time and placed on the calendar 
AN ACT 
To restore the intent and protections of the Americans with 
Disabilities Act of 1990. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘ADA Amendments Act 
of 2008’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 
(1) in enacting the Americans with Disabilities 
Act of 1990 (ADA), Congress intended that the Act 
‘‘provide a clear and comprehensive national man-
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date for the elimination of discrimination against in-
dividuals with disabilities’’ and provide broad cov-
erage; 
(2) in enacting the ADA, Congress recognized 
that physical and mental disabilities in no way di-
minish a person’s right to fully participate in all as-
pects of society, but that people with physical or 
mental disabilities are frequently precluded from 
doing so because of prejudice, antiquated attitudes, 
or the failure to remove societal and institutional 
barriers; 
(3) while Congress expected that the definition 
of disability under the ADA would be interpreted 
consistently with how courts had applied the defini-
tion of handicap under the Rehabilitation Act of 
1973, that expectation has not been fulfilled; 
(4) the holdings of the Supreme Court in Sut-
ton v. United Airlines, Inc., 527 U.S. 471 (1999) 
and its companion cases, and in Toyota Motor Man-
ufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. v. Williams, 534 U.S. 
184 (2002) have narrowed the broad scope of pro-
tection intended to be afforded by the ADA, thus 
eliminating protection for many individuals whom 
Congress intended to protect; and 
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(5) as a result of these Supreme Court cases, 
lower courts have incorrectly found in individual 
cases that people with a range of substantially lim-
iting impairments are not people with disabilities. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 
(1) to carry out the ADA’s objectives of pro-
viding ‘‘a clear and comprehensive national mandate 
for the elimination of discrimination’’ and ‘‘clear, 
strong, consistent, enforceable standards addressing 
discrimination’’ by reinstating a broad scope of pro-
tection to be available under the ADA; 
(2) to reject the requirement enunciated by the 
Supreme Court in Sutton v. United Airlines, Inc., 
527 U.S. 471 (1999) and its companion cases that 
whether an impairment substantially limits a major 
life activity is to be determined with reference to the 
ameliorative effects of mitigating measures; 
(3) to reject the Supreme Court’s reasoning in 
Sutton v. United Airlines, Inc., 527 U.S. 471 (1999) 
with regard to coverage under the third prong of the 
definition of disability and to reinstate the reasoning 
of the Supreme Court in School Board of Nassau 
County v. Arline, 480 U.S. 273 (1987) which set 
forth a broad view of the third prong of the defini-
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