ADA compromise on fast track in Congress
June 18th, 2008
From National Public Radio:
There’s expected to be a highly unusual outbreak of bipartisanship in Washington today. If all goes well, it will result in a major piece of civil rights legislation. Two groups that had been at odds, people with disabilities and American businesses, have put aside their differences to design a bill that now seems on an improbably fast track through Congress.
Joseph Shapiro reports that the two groups have compromised on a definition of disability that is a little more narrow than some people with disabilities had wanted. If all goes smoothly, the bill could reach President Bush’s desk by July 26 — the 18th anniversary of the day his father signed the original Americans with Disabilities Act.
Shapiro interviews a man with muscular dystrophy who was found by General Motors to be too disabled to perform the job for which he was hired. When the man sued to challenge GM’s withdrawal of the job offer, GM argued that he wasn’t disabled enough to be covered under the ADA.
See also this version of the story.

