United Spinal Association Urges Congress To Restore Americans With Disabilities Act
Washington, DC:
Today, Congress held the first hearing on a bill to restore the employment protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Paul Tobin, President of United Spinal Association, said that “We are proud that United Spinal Association worked hard to help obtain 221 co-sponsors of both parties – enough to pass the bill in the House. Enactment of the ADA Restoration Act will give people with disabilities a chance to be judged fairly and to succeed in the workplace.”
The ADA was enacted in 1990, with overwhelming support from both parties and signed by President George H.W. Bush. Over the years the courts have created an absurd Catch-22 that enables employers to say that a person is “too disabled” to do the job but “not disabled enough” to be protected by the ADA. This is wrong and directly contrary to the intent of Congress.
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) – the primary sponsor of this bill in the House along with Congressman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) – made it clear that this bill does not expand the ADA but just restores the original intent of Congress that has been undermined by the courts.
At the October 4th hearing of the Constitution Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, Hoyer stated that: “Let me be clear. When we wrote the ADA, we intentionally used a definition of disability that was broad.” He added that Congress could not have fathomed that many people with disabilities would be kicked out of court because, with medication or mitigation measures or devices, they would not meet the definition of a person with a disability.
For more information about the bill to restore the Americans with Disabilities Act – including a way to find out if your own Representative is one of the co-sponsors — Mr. Tobin encourages people to go to the United Spinal Association’s website at http://www.unitedspinal.org/advocacy/employment-discrimination/.