Ada Education and Reform Act of 2017
Floor Speech
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Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Chairman, one of our great Republican Presidents, Abraham Lincoln, who served in this body, spoke of government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
We didn't start out that way, but through civil rights movements and civil rights statutes, we have opened America up. The Americans with Disabilities Act has been a crucial piece of legislation to opening America up--our restaurants, our hotels, all of our business establishments--to tens of millions of Americans who otherwise couldn't fully participate fully and on an equal basis.
This bill would require a totally novel requirement in the civil rights field, that in order to sue for violations of public accommodations law under the ADA, the person must first notify the business of their alleged violations and then wait 180 days to allow the business to remedy the violation, or make substantial progress towards compliance. No other Federal civil rights law operates this way. They just don't work like that. The ADA has been in process for 27 years, and there is no reason that any business today should be out of compliance with a very clear directive under the ADA.
The new notice and cure provisions will have the effect of shifting the burden of enforcement from the wrongdoer to the victim of discrimination. It would incentivize businesses not to comply with the ADA, unless it receives a notice of violation.
Now, our colleagues raised questions of overzealous, or vexatious, or abusive litigation by certain lawyers, and we know that there are cases of that. They are in the handful of States that have added damages under the ADA.
Understand that, under the ADA, federally, there are no damages. You can just get your costs and your legal fees. So some States have added damages.
Then there are some lawyers who are out making trouble. We agree with that. Use the State bars to sanction them. If there is sanctionable behavior, disbar them. Deal with that problem. But don't cut the heart out of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which has been central to the ability of our people and all of our families to participate on an equal basis in our economy and in our society.
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