US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 42USC12101]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
    CHAPTER 126--EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES
 
Sec. 12101. Findings and purpose


(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, transportation, and 
    communication barriers, overprotective rules and policies, failure 
    to make modifications 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 disadvantaged 
    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 chapter--
        (1) to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for 
    the elimination of discrimination 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 chapter 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.

(Pub. L. 101-336, Sec. 2, July 26, 1990, 104 Stat. 328.)

                       References in Text

    This chapter, referred to in subsec. (b), was in the original ``this 
Act'', meaning Pub. L. 101-336, July 26, 1990, 104 Stat. 327, which is 
classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of 
this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out below and Tables.


                               Short Title

    Section 1(a) of Pub. L. 101-336 provided that: ``This Act [enacting 
this chapter and section 225 of Title 47, Telegraphs, Telephones, and 
Radiotelegraphs, amending section 706 of Title 29, Labor, and sections 
152, 221, and 611 of Title 47, and enacting provisions set out as notes 
under sections 12111, 12131, 12141, 12161, and 12181 of this title] may 
be cited as the `Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990'.''


   Study by General Accounting Office of Existing Disability-Related 
                          Employment Incentives

    Pub. L. 106-170, title III, Sec. 303(a), Dec. 17, 1999, 113 Stat. 
1903, provided that:
    ``(1) Study.--As soon as practicable after the date of the enactment 
of this Act [Dec. 17, 1999], the Comptroller General of the United 
States shall undertake a study to assess existing tax credits and other 
disability-related employment incentives under the Americans with 
Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) and other Federal 
laws. In such study, the Comptroller General shall specifically address 
the extent to which such credits and other incentives would encourage 
employers to hire and retain individuals with disabilities.
    ``(2) Report.--Not later than 3 years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall transmit to the 
Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Finance of the Senate a written report presenting the 
results of the Comptroller General's study conducted pursuant to this 
subsection, together with such recommendations for legislative or 
administrative changes as the Comptroller General determines are 
appropriate.''