ALEXANDRIA, VA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 08/01/08 -- The American Diabetes Association applaudsmembers of the U.S. Senate for introducing the Americans with DisabilitiesAct Amendments Act, which is aimed at strengthening protection fromdiscrimination for people with disabilities and preserving the rights ofAmericans with diabetes and other serious illnesses. The Senate version ofthe Act (S.3406) was introduced with the bipartisan support of 56 originalco-sponsors.Following a recent "roundtable" hearing held by the Senate Committee onHealth, Education, Labor and Pension to discuss amendments to the Americanswith Disabilities Act, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Senator Orrin Hatch(R-UT) collaborated on this legislation. The proposed Amendments Act wouldend the current Catch-22 established by the U.S. Supreme Court's decisionin Sutton v. United Airlines (1999) in which people who work hard to manageconditions like diabetes are then told that they have been so successfulthat they don't qualify for protection under the Act, even when they areexplicitly discriminated against because of their disease.
"We applaud Senator Harkin and Senator Hatch for leading this effort in theSenate and the dozens of others who have joined in this effort to protectthe rights of Americans with disabilities like chronic illnesses such asdiabetes," said Dan Kohrman, Chair of the American Diabetes Association'sLegal Advocacy Subcommittee. "We are proud to stand with them in support ofthis important legislation."
The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a similar bill, alsoentitled the ADA Amendments Act (H.R. 3195) with overwhelming bipartisansupport in a vote of 402-17. The American Diabetes Association willencourage the same level of support for the Senate version.
The ADA is the nation's leading voluntary health organization supportingdiabetes research, information and advocacy. The Association's advocacyefforts include helping to combat discrimination against people withdiabetes; advocating for the increase of federal diabetes research andprograms; and improved access to, and quality of, healthcare for peoplewith diabetes. The ADA's mission is to prevent and cure diabetes and toimprove the lives of all people affected by diabetes. Founded in 1940, theAssociation provides service to hundreds of communities across the country.For more information please call the American Diabetes Association at1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383) or visit www.diabetes.org. Information fromboth these sources is available in English and Spanish.
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Contact:
Shana Starkand
(703) 549-1500, ext. 2622
sstarkand@diabetes.org
