Government
ADA expansion becomes law
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Oct. 13, 2008
President Bush on Sept. 25 signed into law an expansion of the Americans with Disabilities Act that Congress adopted in reaction to a series of Supreme Court decisions scaling back the original 1990 law. For example, the court ruled in 1999 that a disabled person who neutralized a disability with medication or a prosthetic device was no longer legally disabled.
The Senate on Sept. 11 unanimously adopted the measure, formally known as ADA Amendments Act of 2008. The House adopted it by voice vote on Sept. 17. Sen. Tom Harkin (D, Iowa), who sponsored both the original ADA and the new measure, applauded the approval. "I am deeply gratified that we could work in a bipartisan fashion to ensure that all Americans have the right to equal opportunity, full participation, independent living and economic self-sufficiency," he said.
Andrew Imparato, president and CEO of the American Assn. of People with Disabilities, thanked the president for his support. "President Bush has followed in his father's footsteps and taken a stand for equal opportunity and full participation for all Americans."
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/10/13/gvbf1013.htm.
