1 4 (1) some 43,000,000 Americans have one or more 2 physical or mental disabilities, and this number is in 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 creasing 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, sex, national origin, religion, or age, individuals who have experienced dis crimination 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 ar 22 chitectural, transportation, and communication barriers, overprotective rules and policies, failure to make modifications to existing facilities and practices, exclusion ary qualification standards and criteria, segregation, 5 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 6 State billions of dollars in unnecessary expenses result (b) PURPOSE.-It is the purpose of this Act- (1) to provide a clear and comprehensive National mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities; 1 2 ing from dependency and nonproductivity. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 (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 its 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. (1) AUXILIARY AIDS AND SERVICES.-The term "auxiliary aids and services" shall include (A) qualified interpreters or other effective methods of making aurally delivered materials available to individuals with hearing impairments; 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 7 (B) qualified readers, taped texts, or other effective methods of making visually delivered materials available to individuals with visual im pairments; (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; ment. (B) a record of such an impairment; or (C) being regarded as having such an impair (3) REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION.-The term "reasonable accommodation" shall 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, acquisition or modification of equipment or devices, appropriate adjustment or modifications of examinations and training materials, adoption or modification of pro 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 8 cedures or protocols, the provision of qualified readers or interpreters, and other similar accommodations. (4) STATE. The term "State" means each of the several States, the District of Columbia, the Common wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Canal Zone, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 10 TITLE I-GENERAL PROHIBITION 11 AGAINST DISCRIMINATION 12 SEC. 101. FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION PROHIBITED. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.— (1) SERVICES, PROGRAMS, ACTIVITIES, BENEFITS, JOBS, OR OTHER OPPORTUNITIES.—Subject to the standards and procedures established in titles II through V, it shall be discriminatory to subject an individual or class of individuals, directly or through con tractual, licensing, or other arrangements, on the basis of disability, to any of the following: (A) Denying the opportunity to participate in or benefit from a service, program, activity, bene fit, job, or other opportunity. (B) Affording an opportunity to participate in or benefit from a service, program, activity, bene |