Title: A concurrent resolution recognizing the need to improve physical access to many federally funded facilities for all people of the United States, particularly people with disabilities.
Policy area: Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues

Summary:
This concurrent resolution recognizes that people with disabilities experience barriers to access every day and pledges to make universal and inclusive design a guiding principle for all infrastructure bills and projects.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 29 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. CON. RES. 29

   Recognizing the need to improve physical access to many federally 
  funded facilities for all people of the United States, particularly 
                       people with disabilities.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 17, 2022

 Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Mr. Brown, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Casey, Ms. 
 Hassan, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Duckworth, and Mrs. Murray) 
 submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
        the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
   Recognizing the need to improve physical access to many federally 
  funded facilities for all people of the United States, particularly 
                       people with disabilities.

Whereas the First Amendment to the Constitution prevents Congress from making 
        any law respecting an establishment of religion, prohibiting the free 
        exercise of religion, or abridging the freedom of speech, the freedom of 
        the press, the right to peaceably assemble, or to petition for a 
        governmental redress of grievances, and was adopted on December 15, 
        1791, as 1 of the 10 amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights;
Whereas the Bill of Rights, specifically the First Amendment to the 
        Constitution, calls for the right of all persons to peaceably assemble, 
        and to this end, all persons, regardless of their physical ability, 
        shall be offered equal opportunity to access all federally funded, in 
        whole or part, amenities;
Whereas, in the 32 years since the signing of the Americans with Disabilities 
        Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) (in this preamble referred to as 
        the ``ADA''), there have been unprecedented advances in all forms of 
        technology;
Whereas, in 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 1 in 
        4 adults, or 61,000,000 people, have a disability;
Whereas disability is a universal concern, as an aging population increases the 
        incidence of frailty and disability;
Whereas, as significant advances in medical treatment result in increased 
        survival rates, the incidence of disability increases;
Whereas, in 2020, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that 4,700,000 veterans 
        received service-related disability benefits;
Whereas, in 2019, the percentage of working-age people in the United States who 
        reported having a work limitation due to a disability was 10.1 percent;
Whereas the Act entitled ``An Act to insure that certain buildings financed with 
        Federal funds are so designed and constructed as to be accessible to the 
        physically handicapped'', approved August 12, 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4151 et 
        seq.) (commonly known as the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968), was 
        enacted to ensure that certain federally funded facilities are designed 
        and constructed to be accessible to people with disabilities;
Whereas the United States Access Board (in this preamble referred to as the 
        ``Board'') is in the process of developing new guidelines for public 
        rights-of-way that will address various issues, including access for 
        blind pedestrians at street crossings, wheelchair access to on-street 
        parking, and various constraints posed by space limitations, roadway 
        design practices, slope, and terrain;
Whereas the Board's new guidelines, when finalized, will cover pedestrian access 
        to sidewalks and streets, including crosswalks, curb ramps, street 
        furnishings, pedestrian signals, parking, and other components of public 
        rights-of-way;
Whereas the Board's aim in developing these guidelines is to ensure that access 
        for persons with disabilities is provided wherever a pedestrian way is 
        newly built or altered, and that the same degree of convenience, 
        connection, and safety afforded the public generally is available to 
        pedestrians with disabilities;
Whereas once these guidelines are adopted by the Department of Justice, they 
        will become enforceable standards under title II of the ADA; and
Whereas the United States was founded on principles of equality and freedom, and 
        these principles require that all people, including people with 
        disabilities, are able to engage as equal members of society: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) recognizes that people with disabilities in the United 
        States experience barriers to access on a daily basis;
            (2) reaffirms its support of the Act entitled ``An Act to 
        insure that certain buildings financed with Federal funds are 
        so designed and constructed as to be accessible to the 
        physically handicapped'', approved August 12, 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
        4151 et seq.) (commonly known as the Architectural Barriers Act 
        of 1968), and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 
        U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), and encourages full compliance with such 
        Acts; and
            (3) pledges to make universal and inclusive design a 
        guiding principle for all infrastructure bills and projects and 
        will continue working to identify and remove the barriers that 
        prevent all people of the United States from having equal 
        access to the services provided by the Federal Government.
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