Americans with Disabilities Act, as passed by the Senate, appropriately phases in its coverage. When they go into effect two years after enactment, the employment provisions will cover only those employers with 25 or more employees. Two years later, coverage will be extended to include all employers with 15 or more employees. Under this phase-in approach, the more immediate burdens of compliance will fall on those larger businesses most able to bear them. We also believe that the two-year implementation period will ease any initial confusion regarding compliance requirements by giving the Administration adequate time to craft regulations and engage in wide-reaching technical assistance efforts.

Furthermore, the Administration is pleased that the

employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act closely follow the standards provided by section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

including the concept that

nondiscrimination includes the requirement that an employer make reasonable accommodation to the known mental or physical impairments of qualified disabled persons as long as making the accommodation would not result in an undue hardship on the operations of the employer. The fact that many of the employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act are drawn directly and, in many instances, even taken verbatim from the Federal regulations implementing section 504 represents a particularly wise choice. The section 504 standards are familiar

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to large segments of the private sector already covered by the Experience has shown that these standards do

Rehabilitation Act.

not result in undue costs or excessive litigation.

The Administration is satisfied that the Senate-passed Americans with Disabilities Act is consistent with Federal drugfree workplace initiatives. I need not remind this Committee of the scourge of illegal drug use in this country and its frightening impact on daily American life. Under the Senate bill individuals who are illegally using drugs are not included within the protections of the bill and the legality of drug testing is not affected. The bill is fully consistent with this Administration's commitment to the eradication of substance abuse

in the workplace and elsewhere.

The inclusion of public accommodations in the "Americans with Disabilities Act" is a Federal recognition that an

opportunity society provides access to the mainstream of everyday life. Just as title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 opened up hotels, restaurants, and theaters to Black Americans, the Americans with Disabilities Act promises to persons with disabilities the right to enjoy full participation in our American way of life. The Administration endorses the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of disability in public accommodations and its extension to a wide range of entities. Persons with disabilities should not be discouraged

from attending concerts, going to restaurants, and attending movies. And they should not have to face insurmountable obstacles in accomplishing such vital tasks of daily life as grocery shopping or visiting a pharmacy or doctor's office, or going to the dry cleaners.

Under the Americans with

We recognize that imposing an unlimited requirement that public accommodations make themselves accessible to persons with mobility impairments and provide auxiliary aids to those with visual and hearing impairments could result in significant costs. However, the ADA, as passed by the Senate, provides a series of limitations on compliance requirements. For example, physical barriers need only be removed when the removal is "readily achievable,” and auxiliary aids must be provided only if they will not result in an undue burden. Disabilities Act, for example, a restaurant would not be required to provide menus in braille for blind patrons, if the waiters in the restaurant were willing to read the menu. The Act also has minimal requirements for retrofitting existing facilities. In fact, the Act's "readily achievable” standard requires that existing architectural barriers be removed when doing so is easily accomplishable or able to be carried out without much difficulty or expense.

As an essentially forward-looking bill, the legislation reserves the most rigorous accessibility requirements for new

construction, resulting in an estimated increase of construction costs of no more than one percent. Even this new construction

requirement has certain limitations that attempt to mitigate costs. The Americans with Disabilities Act contains an exception for placing elevators in new or altered buildings, perhaps the most costly capital expense for making buildings accessible. Any building that has less than 3,000 square feet per story or that is less than three stories in height need not be constructed with an elevator. The Administration believes a more prudent course would make the requirement apply to new construction of buildings with more than 3 stories. Only multistory shopping malls,

professional offices of health care providers, and other

categories of buildings designated by the Attorney General would be required to have elevators.

The Administration also supports the Senate bill's exclusion of religious organizations and entities controlled by religious organizations from the reach of the public accommodations provisions. Places of worship and the activities of entities controlled by religious organizations have been prudently excluded from the bill.

The Administration is well aware of the costs that litigation designed to test novel theories can impose on business in this country. In order to avoid unnecessary and costly

litigation, the Americans with Disabilities Act, in most cases,

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Congress and the Executive Branch.

Four statutes1 and a series of current Department of Transportation regulations present an interrelated, complicated set of obligations. Several Federal circuit courts have interpreted these statutes and rules. The President agrees that additional legislation is needed to bring certainty to this area and believes that the Americans with Disabilities Act appropriately clarifies transit requirements.

Our goal, and yours, is to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to adequate transportation in this country. The Americans with Disabilities Act would, for the first time, guarantee that public bus systems in this country are accessible to persons with mobility impairments by requiring that all new public buses be accessible to persons with disabilities with the Department of Transportation empowered to grant waivers in the narrow circumstances where such buses are unavailable. retrofitting of existing buses is required by the bill. Requiring that all new buses be accessible is a major change in Federal transportation policy and a welcome one. The unavailability of accessible public transportation in areas served by public transit continues to be a major barrier to the employment of persons with disabilities and a significant factor

No

1 Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 794; section 16(a) of the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964, as amended, 49 U.S.C. § 1612(a); section 165 (b) of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973, as amended, 23 U.S.C. § 142 note; and section 317 (c) of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982, 49 U.S.C. § 1612(d).