From: Julie Dawson 
Subject: Equality of Opportunity -- HISTORY.TXT  (fwd)
          January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety
                             An Act
To establish a clear and comprehensive prohibition of
discrimination on the basis of disability.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
     (a) Short Title. This Act may be cited as the  Americans
with Disabilities Act of 1990".
     (b) Table of Contents. The table of contents is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings and purposes.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
                       TITLE I EMPLOYMENT
Sec. 101. Definitions.
Sec. 102. Discrimination.
Sec. 103. Defenses.
Sec. 104. Illegal use of drugs and alcohol.
Sec. 105. Posting notices.
Sec. 106. Regulations.
Sec. 107. Enforcement.
Sec. 108. Effective date.
                    TITLE II PUBLIC SERVICES
Subtitle A Prohibition Against Discrimination and Other Generally
Applicable Provisions
Sec. 201. Definition.
Sec. 202. Discrimination.
Sec. 203. Enforcement.
Sec. 204. Regulations.
Sec. 205. Effective date.
Subtitle B Actions Applicable to Public Transportation Provided
by Public Entities 
                    Considered Discriminatory
Part I Public Transportation Other Than by Aircraft or Certain
Rail Operations
Sec. 221. Definitions.
Sec. 222. Public entities operating fixed route systems.
Sec. 223. Paratransit as a complement to fixed route service.
Sec. 224. Public entity operating a demand responsive system.
Sec. 225. Temporary relief where lifts are unavailable.
Sec. 226. New facilities.
Sec. 227. Alterations of existing facilities.
Sec. 228. Public transportation programs and activities in
existing facilities and one car per train rule.
Sec. 229. Regulations.
Sec. 230. Interim accessibility requirements.
Sec. 231. Effective date.
  Part II Public Transportation by Intercity and Commuter Rail
Sec. 241. Definitions.
Sec. 242. Intercity and commuter rail actions considered
discriminatory.
Sec. 243. Conformance of accessibility standards.
Sec. 244. Regulations.
Sec. 245. Interim accessibility requirements.
Sec. 246. Effective date.
TITLE III PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS AND SERVICES OPERATED BY PRIVATE
ENTITIES
Sec. 301. Definitions.
Sec. 302. Prohibition of discrimination by public accommodations.
     Sec. 303. New construction and alterations in public
accommodations and commercial facilities.
Sec. 304. Prohibition of discrimination in specified public
transportation services by private entities.
Sec. 305. Study.
Sec. 306. Regulations.
Sec. 307. Exemptions for private clubs and religious
organizations.
Sec. 308. Enforcement.
Sec. 309. Examinations and courses.
Sec. 310. Effective date.
                   TITLE IV TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Sec. 401. Telecommunications relay services for hearing-impaired
and speech-impaired individu als.
Sec. 402. Closed-captioning of public service announcements.
                TITLE V MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Sec. 501. Construction.
Sec. 502. State immunity.
Sec. 503. Prohibition against retaliation and coercion.
Sec. 504. Regulations by the Architectural and Transportation
Barriers Compliance Board.
Sec. 505. Attorney s fees.
Sec. 506. Technical assistance.
Sec. 507. Federal wilderness areas.
Sec. 508. Transvestites.
Sec. 509. Coverage of Congress and the agencies of the
legislative branch.
Sec. 510. Illegal use of drugs.
Sec. 511. Definitions.
Sec. 512. Amendments to the Rehabilitation Act.
Sec. 513. Alternative means of dispute resolution.
Sec. 514. Severability.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
     (a) Findings. The Congress finds that 
     (1) some 43,000,000 Americans have one or more physical or
mental disabilities, and this number is increasing as the
population as a whole is growing older;
     (2) historically, society has tended to isolate and
segregate individuals with disabilities, and, despite some
improvements, such forms of discrimination against individuals
with disabilities continue to be a serious and pervasive social
problem;
     (3) discrimination against individuals with disabilities
persists in such critical areas as employment, housing, public
accommodations, education, transportation, communication,
recreation, institutionalization, health services, voting, and
access to public services;
     (4) unlike individuals who have experienced discrimination
on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, or
age, individuals who have experienced discrimination on the basis
of disability have often had no legal recourse to redress such
discrimination;
     (5) individuals with disabilities continually encounter
various forms of discrimination, including outright intentional
exclusion, the discriminatory effects of architectural,
transporta tion, and communication barriers, overprotective rules
and policies, failure to make modifica tions to existing
facilities and practices, exclusionary qualification standards
and criteria, segregation, and relegation to lesser services,
programs, activities, benefits, jobs, or other opportunities;
     (6) census data, national polls, and other studies have
documented that people with disabilities, as a group, occupy an
inferior status in our society, and are severely disadvan taged
socially, vocationally, economically, and educationally;
     (7) individuals with disabilities are a discrete and insular
minority who have been faced with restrictions and limitations,
subjected to a history of purposeful unequal treatment, and
relegated to a position of political powerlessness in our
society, based on characteristics that are beyond the control of
such individuals and resulting from stereotypic assumptions not
truly indicative of the individual ability of such individuals to
participate in, and contribute to, society;
     (8) the Nation s proper goals regarding individuals with
disabilities are to assure equality of opportunity, full
participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency
for such individuals; and
     (9) the continuing existence of unfair and unnecessary
discrimination and prejudice denies people with disabilities the
opportunity to compete on an equal basis and to pursue those
opportunities for which our free society is justifiably famous,
and costs the United States billions of dollars in unnecessary
expenses resulting from dependency and nonproductivity.
     (b) Purpose. It is the purpose of this Act 
     (1) to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate
for the elimination of discrimi nation against individuals with
disabilities;
     (2) to provide clear, strong, consistent, enforceable
standards addressing discrimination against individuals with
disabilities;
     (3) to ensure that the Federal Government plays a central
role in enforcing the standards established in this Act on behalf
of individuals with disabilities; and
     (4) to invoke the sweep of congressional authority,
including the power to enforce the fourteenth amendment and to
regulate commerce, in order to address the major areas of
discrimination faced day-to-day by people with disabilities.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
     As used in this Act:
     (1) Auxiliary aids and services. The term  auxiliary aids
and services  includes 
     (A) qualified interpreters or other effective methods of
making aurally delivered materials available to individuals with
hearing impairments;
     (B) qualified readers, taped texts, or other effective
methods of making visually delivered materials available to
individuals with visual impairments;
     (C) acquisition or modification of equipment or devices; and
     (D) other similar services and actions.
     (2) Disability. The term  disability  means, with respect to
an individual 
     (A) a physical or mental impairment that substantially
limits one or more of the major life activities of such
individual;
     (B) a record of such an impairment; or
     (C) being regarded as having such an impairment.
     (3) State. The term  State  means each of the several
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Trust
Territory of the Pacific Islands, and the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands.
                       TITLE I  EMPLOYMENT
SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS.
     As used in this title:
     (1) Commission. The term  Commission  means the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission established by section 705 of
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e-4).
     (2) Covered entity. The term  covered entity  means an
employer, employment agency, labor organization, or joint
labor-management committee.
     (3) Direct threat. The term  direct threat  means a
significant risk to the health or safety of others that cannot be
eliminated by reasonable accommodation.
     (4) Employee. The term  employee  means an individual
employed by an employer.
     (5) Employer. 
     (A) In general. The term  employer  means a person engaged
in an industry affecting commerce who has 15 or more employees
for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the
current or preceding calendar year, and any agent of such person,
except that, for two years following the effective date of this
title, an employer means a person engaged in an industry
affecting commerce who has 25 or more employees for each working
day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or
preceding year, and any agent of such person.
     (B) Exceptions. The term  employer  does not include 
     (i) the United States, a corporation wholly owned by the
government of the United States, or an Indian tribe; or
     (ii) a bona fide private membership club (other than a labor
organization) that is exempt from taxation under section 501(c)
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
     (6) Illegal use of drugs. 
     (A) In general. The term  illegal use of drugs  means the
use of drugs, the posses sion or distribution of which is
unlawful under the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812).
Such term does not include the use of a drug taken under
supervision by a licensed health care professional, or other uses
authorized by the Controlled Substances Act or other provisions
of Federal law.
     (B) Drugs. The term  drug  means a controlled substance, as
defined in schedules I through V of section 202 of the Controlled
Substances Act.
     (7) Person, etc. The terms  person ,  labor organization ,
 employment agency ,  commerce , and  industry affecting
commerce , shall have the same meaning given such terms in
section 701 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e).
     (8) Qualified individual with a disability. The term
 qualified individual with a disabil ity  means an individual
with a disability who, with or without reasonable accommodation,
can perform the essential functions of the employment position
that such individual holds or desires. For the purposes of this
title, consideration shall be given to the employer s judgment as
to what functions of a job are essential, and if an employer has
prepared a written descrip tion before advertising or
interviewing applicants for the job, this description shall be
considered evidence of the essential functions of the job.
     (9) Reasonable accommodation. The term  reasonable
accommodation  may include 
     (A) making existing facilities used by employees readily
accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities; and
     (B) job restructuring, part-time or modified work schedules,
reassignment to a vacant position, acquisition or modification of
equipment or devices, appropriate adjustment or modifications of
examinations, training materials or policies, the provision of
qualified readers or interpreters, and other similar
accommodations for individuals with disabilities.
     (10) Undue hardship. 
     (A) In general. The term  undue hardship  means an action
requiring significant difficulty or expense, when considered in
light of the factors set forth in subparagraph (B).
     (B) Factors to be considered. In determining whether an
accommodation would impose an undue hardship on a covered entity,
factors to be considered include 
     (i) the nature and cost of the accommodation needed under
this Act;
     (ii) the overall financial resources of the facility or
facilities involved in the provision of the reasonable
accommodation; the number of persons employed at such facility;
the effect on expenses and resources, or the impact otherwise of
such accom modation upon the operation of the facility;
     (iii) the overall financial resources of the covered entity;
the overall size of the business of a covered entity with respect
to the number of its employees; the number, type, and location of
its facilities; and
     (iv) the type of operation or operations of the covered
entity, including the composition, structure, and functions of
the workforce of such entity; the geographic separateness,
administrative, or fiscal relationship of the facility or
facilities in question to the covered entity.
SEC. 102. DISCRIMINATION.
     (a) General Rule. No covered entity shall discriminate
against a qualified individual with a disability because of the
disability of such individual in regard to job application
procedures, the hiring, advancement, or discharge of employees,
employee compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions,
and privileges of employment.
     (b) Construction. As used in subsection (a), the term
 discriminate  includes 
     (1) limiting, segregating, or classifying a job applicant or
employee in a way that adversely affects the opportunities or
status of such applicant or employee because of the disability of
such applicant or employee;
     (2) participating in a contractual or other arrangement or
relationship that has the effect of subjecting a covered entity s
qualified applicant or employee with a disability to the discrimi
nation prohibited by this title (such relationship includes a
relationship with an employment or referral agency, labor union,
an organization providing fringe benefits to an employee of the
covered entity, or an organization providing training and
apprenticeship programs);
     (3) utilizing standards, criteria, or methods of
administration 
     (A) that have the effect of discrimination on the basis of
disability; or
     (B) that perpetuate the discrimination of others who are
subject to common administra tive control;
     (4) excluding or otherwise denying equal jobs or benefits to
a qualified individual because of the known disability of an
individual with whom the qualified individual is known to have a
relationship or association;
     (5)(A) not making reasonable accommodations to the known
physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified
individual with a disability who is an applicant or employee,
unless such covered entity can demonstrate that the accommodation
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