Via Newswire
WASHINGTON, Sept 25, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ — Landmark Disability Legislation Reverses Supreme Court Decisions
The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the largest cross-disability membership organization in the U.S., commends the signing into law of the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 Thursday by President George W. Bush.
“Today President Bush has followed in his father’s footsteps and taken a stand for equal opportunity and full participation for all Americans. I deeply appreciate the bipartisan leadership in the Congress that brought us to this point, and I thank President Bush for his leadership in signing this critical civil rights law that will make a real difference in the lives of millions of Americans with disabilities and chronic health conditions,” said Andrew Imparato, President and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities.
The law, which was passed by unanimous consent in the Senate and by voice vote in the House earlier this month, restores civil rights to Americans with disabilities in the workplace. The legislation also overturns four Supreme Court decisions that have inappropriately narrowed the protections of the ADA.
AAPD hails this monumental event as a civil rights landmark that brought together the disability and business communities to work on this historic bipartisan legislation.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush on July 26, 1990. However, in the eighteen years since its passage, decisions made by the Supreme Court have so narrowed the definition of disability under the ADA as to effectively shut out scores of people with a variety of disabilities from the civil rights protections in the workplace.
The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the country’s largest cross-disability membership organization, organizes the disability community to be a powerful voice for change – politically, economically, and socially. AAPD was founded in 1995 to help unite the diverse community of people with disabilities, including their family, friends and supporters, and to be a national voice for change in implementing the goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). To learn more, visit the AAPD website: www.aapd.com
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