Your Senators are Home for Recess Call and Urge Their Support of the ADA Amendments Act Today!
Take Action Now:
Find out if your senators are co-sponsors of the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) Amendments Act (S. 3406). Then give them a call at their local office numbers’ and thank them for co-sponsoring or urge them to co-sponsor and bring the bill to a floor vote when they return in September!
What is the Americans with Disabilities Act?
In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law with strong bi-partisan support. This act was to be the “emancipation proclamation” for people with disabilities preventing unfair treatment toward people with current, past and perceived disabilities. However, 18 years after the passage of this historic civil rights legislation, the courts have significantly weakened the original provisions of the ADA by narrowing the definition of “disability.”
The ADA was intended to be a comprehensive protective law against discrimination on the basis of disability. The bill provided people with disabilities the right to equal opportunity in employment and protection from discrimination in the workplace.
Why do we need an ADA Amendments Act?
Since the passage of the ADA, court decisions have narrowed the definition of “disability,” leaving workers vulnerable to discrimination based on a wide range of conditions that are no longer protected regardless of Congress’ original intent to do so.
This has created a Catch-22. Employers may discriminate against a person because s/he is wrongly considered “too disabled” to do a job - but that employee may be deemed not “disabled enough” to be protected by the ADA.
The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 will re-establish coverage of individuals whom Congress originally intended to protect from discrimination by amending the definition of the term "disability." This restoration would help ensure that the courts focus on the alleged employer discrimination, rather than on whether an individual can meet the rigorous standards to qualify as "disabled."
Call Your Senators Today!
Thanks to the calls and letters of thousands of civil right activists like you, on June 25 the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to pass the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) Amendments Act! Call your senators while they are home during August recess and ask for their support of the ADA Amendments Act! You can find their local number at Senate.gov.
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