The purpose of the ADA was “to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities.” The provisions of the ADA addressing architectural, transportation, and communication accessibility have changed the face of American society in numerous concrete ways, enhancing the independence, full participation, inclusion, and equality of opportunity for Americans with disabilities. However, the provisions of the ADA that have been narrowed by Court rulings currently do not provide the same scope of opportunities and protections expressed by those involved in the creation and passage of the ADA. Legislation is urgently needed to restore the ADA to “assure equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency” for Americans with disabilities.

• The employment rate of people with disabilities has not improved.
• Two-thirds of people with disabilities who do not have a job indicate they would work if they could find employment.
• Courts decide against people who challenge disability discrimination 97% of the time, often before the person has even had a chance to show that the employer treated them unfairly.
• People with conditions like epilepsy, diabetes, HIV, cancer, hearing loss, and mental illness who manage their disabilities with medication, prosthetics, hearing aids, etc. –or "mitigating measures" –are viewed as "too functional" to have a disability and are denied the ADA’s protection from employment discrimination.
• People who have been denied a job or fired because an employer mistakenly believed that they could not perform the job or the employer did not want "people like that" in the workplace are also denied the ADA’s protection from employment discrimination.
• The employment rate of people with disabilities has not improved.