Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/524bv.pdf
Page Number: 690.0

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Unit: $U96

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Cite as: 524 U. S. 624 (1998)

645

Opinion of the Court

the new statute should be construed in light of this unwaver-
ing line of administrative and judicial interpretation. All in-
dications are that Congress was well aware of the position
taken by OLC when enacting the ADA and intended to give
that position its active endorsement. H. R. Rep. No. 101–
485, pt. 2, p. 52 (1990) (endorsing the analysis and conclusion
of the OLC opinion); id., pt. 3, at 28, n. 18 (same); S. Rep. No.
101–116, pp. 21, 22 (1989) (same). As noted earlier, Congress
also incorporated the same deﬁnition into the Fair Housing
Amendments Act of 1988. See 42 U. S. C. § 3602(h)(1). We
ﬁnd it signiﬁcant that the implementing regulations issued
by the Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) construed the deﬁnition to include infection with
HIV.
54 Fed. Reg. 3232, 3245 (1989) (codiﬁed at 24 CFR
§ 100.201 (1997)); see also In re Williams, 2A P–H Fair
Housing-Fair Lending ¶ 25,007, pp. 25,111–25,113 (HUD Off.
Admin. Law Judges, Mar. 22, 1991) (adhering to this inter-
pretation); In re Elroy R. and Dorothy Burns Trust, 2A
P–H Fair Housing-Fair Lending ¶ 25,073, p. 25,678 (HUD Off.
Admin. Law Judges, June 17, 1994) (same). Again the legis-
lative record indicates that Congress intended to ratify
HUD’s interpretation when it reiterated the same deﬁnition
in the ADA. H. R. Rep. No. 101–485, pt. 2, at 50; id., pt. 3,
at 27; id., pt. 4, at 36; S. Rep. No. 101–116, at 21.

We ﬁnd the uniformity of the administrative and judicial
precedent construing the deﬁnition signiﬁcant. When ad-
ministrative and judicial
interpretations have settled the
meaning of an existing statutory provision, repetition of the
same language in a new statute indicates, as a general mat-
ter, the intent to incorporate its administrative and judicial
interpretations as well. See, e. g., Lorillard v. Pons, 434
U. S. 575, 580–581 (1978). The uniform body of administra-
tive and judicial precedent conﬁrms the conclusion we reach
today as the most faithful way to effect the congressional
design.