. . . and I’m not complaining! Yesterday (September 17), the House of Representatives overwhelming voted (i.e., unanimously) in favor of the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendment Act of 2008 as it was passed back to them from the Senate! Furthermore, both the House and the Senate NAILED the Supreme Court for their bigotry in “creating” their own version of the ADA by ignoring the intent of Congress when the ADA was first passed back in 1990. Congress also blasted away at the Supreme Court for their egregious rulings that not only ignored the intent of the ADA but that have subsequently harmed millions of Americans. There are few times when Congress gets something right and this time they came through with flying colors! Bravo to both the House and the Senate (although the Senate took far too LONG to get off their duffs and pass the bill that was sent to them by the house THREE MONTHS AGO). Just the same, the end result is what was important and the rights of those with disabilities have been restored (unless, of course, other bigoted judges or the Supreme Court decide to make up their own laws again).
Month: September 2008
News FLASH! Americans with Disabilities Act, Amendments Act of 2008 appears to have PASSED!
Would you know it – the moment I finish up my last post, I received a News Release from the ADA Watch/National Coalition for Disability Rights (NCDR) that “praised the U.S. Senate today for taking bipartisan action to restore vital civil rights protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).” While even the Senate web site does not confirm this yet: if it is true, this is a GREAT victory over the bigoted courts and equally bigoted judges who have defied the intent of Congress with regard to the rights of those with disabilities! As Congress recognized that severe harm the Supreme Court and their underlings had been doing, they have worked on restoring the ADA to it’s original intent for more than a year.
The House passed their version of the Bill, the ADA Restoration Act of 2007 (later, 2008) back in June. The Senate sat on their duffs and went on vacation (and to their vacations) without passing the bill before they left. Now that they’re back, they waited a few more days but have finally done the RIGHT THING!
While the President still needs to sign the bill (write or call TODAY), he has said he would sign it. So have both McCain and even bigot Obama. The only concern now is that the bigoted court system and some of their bigoted judges will try to find a way to overturn Congress again – this time; however, it will be harder for them to do so. As noted in the NCDR Press Release:
“[NDCR] Board member, Marcie Roth added, “While hopeful, we remain concerned that the rights of the more than 54 Americans with disabilities may still be in jeopardy if activist judges continue to disregard the intent of Congress. We call on both presidential candidates to support judges who will uphold the intent of Congress so that we can lessen discrimination and see a reduction in the shamefully high rates of poverty and unemployment among people with disabilities.”
Information about this bill may be found at:
It’s time for the bigotry to stop and for our courts to stop the abuses they’ve helped create.