Congressional Leadership Introduces Act to Restore ADA

WASHINGTON, DC, July 26, 2007 -- On the 17th Anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Congressional leaders – including Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (MD), Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), and Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced the ADA Restoration Act with strong support from the Epilepsy Foundation, the National Disability Rights Network, and the larger disability community.

Over the past 17 years, the courts have narrowed the definition of disability so much that people with epilepsy and other conditions who manage their disabilities with medication or other forms of treatment are viewed as “too functional” to have a disability. While these same people may be denied a job or fired because an employer mistakenly believes they cannot perform the job, they are still denied the ADA’s protection from employment discrimination.

“Since its passing in 1990, various judicial entities have diluted this landmark legislation, determining that they, better than Congress, knew whom Congress had intended to protect with this powerful piece of legislation,” said Tony Coelho, key author of the ADA and Immediate Past Chair of the Epilepsy Foundation. “They undermined Congress by putting the burden on disabled people, making them prove they are disabled enough to be protected under the law, rather than on making other entities prove they have not discriminated against disabled people because of their disabilities. In fact, they have at times ignored it when companies admitted to committing such acts of discrimination.”

At today’s introduction of the ADA Restoration Act, Steny Hoyer said, “Courts have ruled that medication or other corrective measures have made ADA claimants ‘too functional’ to be considered ‘disabled’ under the law.

“Let me be clear: This is not what Congress intended when it passed the ADA. We intended a broad application of this law. Simply put, the point of the ADA is not disability; it is the prevention of wrongful and unlawful discrimination.” Hoyer concluded, “Passage of this legislation is critical to helping us achieve the ADA’s promise – and creating a society in which Americans with disabilities can realize their potential.”