Rob Andrews: “Words have meaning. And when the original Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted, the word ``disability'' had a…”

“Words have meaning. And when the original Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted, the word ``disability'' had a commonsense meaning. It meant if someone had a substantial impairment, mentally or physically, that would interfere with their ability to do something important, that was a disability. I think a hundred of Americans, if you stopped them on the street and asked them if they agreed with that, they would say ``yes.'' Unfortunately, not enough of those Americans served on the United States Supreme Court, and we wound up with a tortured rendition of the definition of ``disability'' where people that we clearly would think were disabled were excluded from the protections of this law. The authors of this bill worked long and hard to clear up that confusion and strike the right balance between the opportunities of Americans with disabilities and a fair set of ground rules for employers and other institutions in our society. I believe this legislation clearly strikes the right balance.”