•HRES 1773 IH 
Whereas according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current 
Population Survey, the number of United States citizens 
reporting a disability is at a 20-year high; 
Whereas the Architectural Barriers Act, was first enacted in 
1968 to ensure that certain federally funded facilities are 
designed and constructed to be accessible to people with 
disabilities and requires that public buildings, including 
post offices and other Federal facilities, have at least one 
handicap accessible path and entrance; 
Whereas automatic doors, though not mandated by either the 
Architectural Barriers Act or the Americans with Disabil-
ities Act, provide a greater degree of self-sufficiency and 
dignity for disabled United States citizens, as well as the 
frail elderly who have limited strength to open a manual 
door; 
Whereas a report commissioned by the Access Board, an 
independent Federal agency created to ensure access to 
federally funded facilities, recommends that all new build-
ings used by the public should have at least one auto-
mated door at an accessible entrance, with an exception 
for small buildings where adding such a door may be a 
financial hardship for building owners; 
Whereas States and municipalities have begun to recognize 
the importance of automatic doors in approving accessi-
bility as Connecticut State law requires automatic doors 
in certain shopping malls and retail businesses, Delaware 
requires an automatic door or calling device for newly 
constructed places of accommodation, and the District of 
Columbia has a similar requirement; 
Whereas the U.S. General Services Administration’s Facili-
ties Standards for the Public Buildings Service requires 
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•HRES 1773 IH 
automation of at least one exterior door for all newly con-
structed or renovated General Service Administration fa-
cilities, including post offices; 
Whereas over the past 5 years, 71 percent of complaints re-
ceived by the Access Board regarding the Architectural 
Barriers Act have concerned a post office or other postal 
facility; 
Whereas the Postal Service employees 596,000 people, mak-
ing it the Nation’s second-largest civilian employer; 
Whereas 7,000,000 people a day visit one of the over 36,400 
post offices in the United States; and 
Whereas the United States was founded on principles of 
equality and freedom, and these laws ensure that all citi-
zens, even those with disabilities, are able to engage as 
equal members of society: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) recognizes the immense hardships that dis-
abled United States citizens must overcome every-
day; 
(2) reaffirms its support of the Architectural 
Barriers Act and the Americans with Disabilities 
Act and full compliance of the laws; 
(3) recommends that the United States Postal 
Service and other public agencies install power-as-
sisted doors to ensure equal access to all citizens; 
and 
(4) pledges to continue to work to identify and 
rectify the barriers that are preventing all United 
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•HRES 1773 IH 
States citizens from having equal access to the serv-
ices provided by the Federal Government. 
Æ 
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