Date: 2008-09-17
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I rise today in strong support of final passage of S. 3406. the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008. Since 1990. the Americans with Disabilities Act has provided. protection from discrimination for millions of productive. hardworking Americans so that they may fully participate in our Nations schools. communities and workplace. Among other rights. the law guaranteed that workers with disabilities would be judged on their merits and not on an employers prejudice. But since the ADAs enactment. several Supreme Court rulings have dramatically reduced the number of individuals with disabilities who are protected from discrimination under the law. Workers like Carey McClure. an electrician with muscular dystrophy who testified before our committee in January. have not been hired or passed over for promotion by an employer regarding them as too disabled to do the job. Yet when these workers seek justice for this discrimination. the courts rule that they are not disabled enough to be protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act. This is a terrible catch22 that Congress will change with the passage of this bill today. S. 3406. like H.R. 3195 passed in June. remedies this catch22 situation in several ways by reversing flawed court decisions to restore the original congressional intent of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Workers with disabilities who have been discriminated against will no longer be denied their civil rights as a result of these erroneous court decisions. To do this. S. 3406 reestablishes the scope of protection of the Americans with Disabilities Act to be generous and inclusive. The bill restores the proper focus on whether discrimination occurred rather than on whether or not an individuals impairment qualifies as a disability. S. 3406 ensures that individuals who reduce the impact of their impairments through means such as hearing aids. medications. or learned behavioral modifications will be considered in their unmitigated state. For people with epilepsy. diabetes and other conditions who have successfully managed their disability. this means the end of the catch22 situation that Carey McClure and so many others have encountered when attempting to seek justice. For our returning war veterans with disabilities. S. 3406 will ensure that the transition to civilian life will not include another battle here at home. a battle against discrimination on the basis of disability. And students with physical and mental impairments will have access to the accommodations and modifications they need to successfully pursue an education. Much of the language contained in S. 3406 is identical to the Housepassed H.R. 3195. This includes provisions concerning mitigating measures. episodic conditions. major life activities. treatment of claims under the "regarded as" prong. regulatory authority for the definition of disability. and the conforming amendments to section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. .We expect the courts and agencies to apply this less demanding standard when interpreting "substantially limits." S. 3406 directs the courts and the agencies to interpret the term consistent with the findings and purposes of the ADA Amendments Act. We intend that the ADA Amendments Act will reduce the depth of analysis related to the severity of the limitation of the impairment and return the focus to where it should be: the question of whether or not discrimination. based upon the disability. actually occurred. This legislation has broad support: Democrats and Republicans. employers. civil rights groups. and advocates for individuals with disabilities. Im pleased that we were able to work together to get to this point. In particular. Id like to thank the members of the Employer and Disability Alliance. including the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. the Epilepsy Foundation. the American Association of People with Disabilities. the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. the National Association of Manufacturers. and the Society for Human Resource Management for all of their hard work and long hours of negotiations with each other and with our staff. Of course. much credit is due to Majority Leader STENY HOYER and Congressman JIM SENSENBRENNER for their leadership and tenacity in the House. and Senator HARKIN. Senator KENNEDY. Senator HATCH for their skill in moving this legislation through the Senate with unanimous support. It is time to restore the original intent of the ADA. and ensure that the tens of millions of Americans with disabilities who want to work. attend school. and fully participate in our communities will have the chance to do so. I look forward to the passage of this legislation and encourage my colleagues to support it. I reserve the balance of my time.