[blindlaw] FW: Take Action: Chamber of Commerce Opposes ADA Restoration!!

[Nightingale, Noel]

FYI 

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-justice at jfanow.org [mailto:owner-justice at jfanow.org] On
Behalf Of Justice For All Moderator
Sent: Monday, August 27, 2007 6:42 AM
To: justice at jfanow.org
Subject: Take Action: Chamber of Commerce Opposes ADA Restoration!!

Take Action: Chamber of Commerce Opposes ADA Restoration!!

Dear Advocates,

On Tuesday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business
federation, in a letter addressed to the Members of the U.S. House of
Representatives, went on record as opposing the ADA Restoration Act of
2007 (H.R. 3195) and urging Members not to co- sponsor or show support
of the bill. The Chamber's letter mischaracterizes the ADA Restoration
Act as an expansion of the ADA, when in fact, it is, as its name
suggests, a restoration of the original intent of Congress when passing
the ADA in 1990, which was to create a level playing field for everyone
who wants a job to have an equal opportunity to work. Just like other
civil rights laws prohibit employers from basing decisions on
characteristics like race or sex, Congress wanted the ADA to stop
employers from making decisions based on disability. 

However, that original, bipartisan, bicameral intent has since been
distorted by the Courts through extremely narrow interpretations of the
ADA. The employment rate of people with disabilities has not improved
and two-thirds of people with disabilities who do not have a job
indicate they would work if they could only find employment. What's
more, for those fortunate enough to find jobs, Courts are deciding
against people with disabilities who challenge disability discrimination
97% of the time, often before the person with a disability even has a
chance to show that the employer treated them unfairly! 

The Chamber argues that they "strongly support equal opportunity in
employment" yet they adamantly oppose H.R. 3195 which seeks to make
equal opportunities for people with disabilities possible! 

TAKE ACTION!!

React directly to the Chamber regarding their opposition to ADA
Restoration by writing or calling the Chamber of Commerce at: 

U.S. Chamber of Commerce
1615 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20062-2000
Main Number: 202-659-6000
Customer Service: 1-800-638-6582

Send your complaints to the regional Chamber offices, too. To determine
contact information for the regional office nearest you, go to:
http://www.uschamber.com/about/contact/regional.htm

To read the letter the Chamber of Commerce sent to the U.S. House of
Representatives, go to:
http://www.aapd.com/News/adainthe/070827uscc.htm

SOURCE: AAPD
_________________________________________________________________

For more ADA Restoration News, see:
http://www.aapd.com/News/adainthe/indexada_restore.php

# # #

MODERATOR, Anne Sommers, JUSTICE FOR ALL -- A Service of the American
Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD). To contact Anne, please
email her at JFAmoderator at aol.com. To respond to a JFA alert or to
submit an article, please see http://www.aapd.com/JFA/JFAcontent.html.

DISCLAIMER: The JFA Listserv is designed to share information of
interest to people with disabilities and promote dialogue in the
disability community. Information circulated does not necessarily
express the views of AAPD. The JFA Listserv is non-partisan. 

JFA ARCHIVES: All JFA postings from 1995 to present are available at:
http://www.jfanow.org/jfanow/

JOIN AAPD! There's strength in numbers! Be a part of a national
coalition of people with disabilities and join AAPD today at
http://www.aapd.com.

                  Justice-For-All FREE Subscriptions
                     To subscribe or unsubscribe,
                send an email to majordomo at JFAnow.org
            with subscribe justice OR unsubscribe justice
                 in the body of your email message.