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ADA Amendments Act

celebrate 20 years of the ADA

Celebrate 20 Years of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

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(click image to enlarge)

Cover to The Epilepsy Foundation's 'National Spokesman' Newspaper - July/August 1990. The ADA is signed into law.

When the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law in 1990 by President George H.W. Bush, it promised to be a vital means of protecting the interests of people who were treated unfairly because of their epilepsy. In fact, it has been very successful in opening doors to people with epilepsy. Employers cannot ask in advance of hiring whether you have epilepsy; the physical world is more accessible; you cannot be excluded from participation in public activities and facilities because you have seizures. You may ask for an accommodation in the workplace if you believe you need it to do your job. Perhaps most importantly, people with disabilities like epilepsy recognize they are entitled to equal protection of the law, and are increasingly seeking to protect their rights.

But a major problem was also brewing over the first 15 years of ADA implementation. Federal courts were increasingly holding that people with conditions like epilepsy, who might take medication, or who might be doing well enough to manage daily life in between seizures, were not covered by the law, even if they had faced discrimination because of their epilepsy.

On September 25, 2008, President George W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA). The ADAAA makes it clear that Congress intends, as it originally intended, for people with conditions such as epilepsy to be covered by the law and protected from discrimination on the basis of their epilepsy.

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The fight to restore these basic civil rights to people with chronic conditions like epilepsy was long and hard-fought.

Below are some highlights of that heroic struggle:

Long journey: timeline of the ada

1988

Congressman Tony Coelho (D-CA) and Senator Lowell Weicker (R-CT) introduce H.R. 4498 and S. 2345,
proposing that people with
disabilities be protected from
unfair discrimination.

1990

Following two years of hearings, and the introduction by Congressman Coelho and Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) of modified
versions of legislation to protect people with disabilities against unfair discrimination, on July 26, President George H.W. Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act into law. The passage of the ADA marked the most significant advancement for the civil rights of people with disabilities the world has known. The ADA provided comprehensive protections against disability discrimination in employment, public services, public accommodation and services
operated by private entities, transportation, and telecommunications. It becomes a model for countries all over the world.

2000 to 2006

The U.S. Supreme Court issues decisions dramatically limiting the scope of the definition of disability under the ADA. People with epilepsy discover routinely in court they are no longer protected by the ADA because they are not considered to have a disability.

Fall 2006

H.R. 6258, the Americans with Disabilities Restoration Act of 2006, is introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Judiciary Committee Chair F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-WI), Ranking Member John Conyers (D-MI), and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD). This is the first legislative attempt to address some of the problems resulting from the federal courts’ interpretations of the ADA.

July 26, 2007

The ADA Restoration Act of
2007 is introduced by Majority Leader Hoyer, Judiciary Committee Chair Conyers, and Representative Sensenbrenner,
with 144 original bipartisan cosponsors. Similar legislation, S. 1881, is introduced on the same
day in the Senate by Senator Tom Harkin, Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), and Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA).

Fall 2007

Epilepsy Foundation helps organizes grassroots support for ADA Restoration throughout this time. Hearings are held in the
House Judiciary Committee,
and in the Senate HELP
Committee. By the end of the year, the House bill has 246 co-sponsors.

2008

The House Committee
on Education and Labor,
committee with primary
responsibility for the
legislation, holds a hearing
on the bill in January. It
becomes clear that bipartisan leadership in the House would like to pass a bill that has strong bipartisan, business, and disability community support. Epilepsy Foundation plays a key role in negotiations on the House bill.

June 25, 2008

A negotiated bill, agreed
to by all parties and by all
Committees of jurisdiction,
passes in the House.

July 31, 2008

Senator Harkin and Senator
Hatch introduce S. 3406,
an amended version of the
House-passed bill, with 62
bipartisan cosponsors.

September 11, 2008

S. 3406 passes the Senate by unanimous consent.

September 25, 2008

President George W. Bush
signs the ADA Amendments
Act of 2008 into law.