Jerry Nadler: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chairman, I strongly support the Langevin-Harper amendment. This bipartisan…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chairman, I strongly support the Langevin-Harper amendment. This bipartisan amendment removes from the bill its onerous and unjustified notice and cure provisions while leaving in place its potentially helpful educational and mediation-related provisions. As I discussed extensively during general debate, the notice and cure provisions would have the effect of drastically weakening the ability of discrimination victims enforcing their rights in court. Any law, including the ADA, is only effective to the extent that it is enforceable, and civil rights statutes, particularly, depend primarily on private rights of action for their enforcement. By weakening enforcement, H.R. 620's notice and cure provisions ultimately undermine the ADA's goal of integrating people with disabilities into the mainstream of American life. For these reasons, I urge the House to adopt the Langevin-Harper amendment which cures most of the problems with this bill.”