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Congress Urged to Support Americans with Disabilities Act Restoration
    WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Council on
Disability (NCD) today urged Congress to support legislation that will
"right" the course of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and protect
the civil rights of people with disabilities.
    ADA restoration bills were introduced in the House (H.R. 3195) and the
Senate (S.1881) on July 26, 2007. NCD proposed the original ADA
legislation, and is charged with gathering information about the
implementation, effectiveness, and impact of the ADA. In keeping with this
requirement, NCD undertook a two-year study to analyze 19 Supreme Court
cases interpreting the ADA and, in December 2004, released a comprehensive
report entitled Righting the ADA
(http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/2004/righting_ADA.htm).
    According to NCD chairperson John R. Vaughn, "NCD's study revealed that
the majority of the Supreme Court's rulings involving the ADA depart
substantially from the core principles and objectives of the ADA, resulting
in unfair outcomes that sanction, rather than remedy, even the most
egregious employment discrimination against people with disabilities."
    "Countless federal court cases have followed, in which an employer
refuses to hire or accommodate an individual with a disability because of
the disability, but then is allowed to argue that the person does not have
a disability. Rarely are the individual's qualifications for the job
evaluated, nor is the alleged discrimination examined.
    "The purpose of the ADA is 'to provide a clear and comprehensive
national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals
with disabilities.' While the provisions of the ADA addressing
architectural, transportation, and communication accessibility have been
implemented with notable success, the employment provisions of the ADA
essentially have been rewritten by the Supreme Court, such that these
provisions no longer provide the opportunities and protections expressly
intended by those involved in the creation and passage of the ADA.
    "NCD's two recent ADA reports, Implementation of the Americans with
Disabilities Act: Challenges, Best Practices, and New Opportunities for
Success
(http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/2007/implementation_07-26-07.htm)
and The Impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act: Assessing the Progress
Toward Achieving the Goals of the ADA
(http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/2007/ada_impact_07-26-07.htm) both
confirm that legislation is urgently needed to restore the ADA to ensure
equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic
self-sufficiency for all Americans with disabilities," Vaughn concluded.
    NCD is an independent federal agency and is composed of 15 members
appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate. It provides advice to the President, Congress, and executive branch
agencies to promote policies, programs, practices, and procedures that
guarantee equal opportunity for all individuals with disabilities,
regardless of the nature or severity of the disability, and to empower
individuals with disabilities to
    achieve economic self-sufficiency, independent living, and inclusion
and integration into all aspects of society.
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