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July 23, 2026
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Download official Senate Record PDFReturn to issue contextAND ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES MADE POSSIBLE BY THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OF 1990 AND CALLING TO PROTECT THE RIGHT OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES TO LIVE IN THEIR OWN
HOMES AND COMMUNITIES
Mr. KIM (for himself, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Hickenlooper, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Gallego, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. King, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Reed, Ms. Warren, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Klobuchar, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Coons, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Booker, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Fetterman, Mrs. Gillibrand, Ms. Cantwell, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Markey, Mr. Murphy, and Mr. Bennet) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions:
S. Res. 814
Whereas, in enacting the Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) (referred to in this preamble
as the “Americans with Disabilities Act”), Congress
recognized that “historically, society has tended to isolate
and segregate individuals with disabilities, and, despite
some improvements, such forms of discrimination against
individuals with disabilities continue to be a serious and
pervasive social problem”;
Whereas the Americans with Disabilities Act recognizes the
rights of individuals with disabilities to fully participate
in their communities through independent living, equality of
opportunity, and economic self-sufficiency;
Whereas, on June 22, 1999, the Supreme Court of the United
States in Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999) (referred to
in this preamble as “the Olmstead decision”) held that,
under the Americans with Disabilities Act, States must offer
qualified individuals with disabilities the choice to receive
their long-term services and support in a community-based
setting;
Whereas the Supreme Court of the United States further
recognized that “confinement in an institution severely
diminishes the everyday life activities of individuals,
including activities involving family relations and social
contacts, work options, economic independence, educational
advancement, and cultural enrichment”;
Whereas, as a result of the integration mandate, many
individuals with disabilities have been able to live in their
own homes, and become productive members of the community,
particularly through access to home and community-based
services through the Medicaid program under title XIX of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) (referred to in
this preamble as “the Medicaid program”);
Whereas 36 years after the date of enactment of the
Americans with Disabilities Act, and 27 years after the
Olmstead decision, the Department of Justice issued a deeply
flawed and harmful opinion that rejects the integration
mandate and threatens the hard-won progress toward full
integration of individuals with disabilities into society;
Whereas, prior to the Department of Justice opinion
described in the preceding whereas clause, the Olmstead
decision and the integration mandate of the Americans with
Disabilities Act and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973 (29 U.S.C. 794) have been repeatedly affirmed by courts
across the United States, by Congress, and in Federal
regulations, prohibiting States from forcing individuals with
disabilities into segregated settings, such as psychiatric
hospitals, nursing homes, segregated schools, and sheltered
workshops, when those individuals could be served in their
homes and communities;
Whereas the Department of Justice admits its interpretation
of the Olmstead decision is “out of step with common
understanding of that decision within Federal courts”, yet
encourages non-compliance with the integration mandate;
Whereas 36 years after the date of the enactment of the
Americans with Disabilities Act—
(1) more than 8,400,000 individuals receive home and
community-based services through the Medicaid program;
(2) individuals with disabilities are participating in the
labor force at a rate of over 41 percent;
(3) on average, it is 3 times less expensive to serve
someone through home and community-based services relative to
an institution; and
(4) individuals returning to the community from
institutions report improved life satisfaction, reduced unmet
needs, and enhanced feelings of dignity;
Whereas the continuation of segregated institutional
settings has hindered the inclusion of individuals with
disabilities in communities, schools, and workplaces,
undermining the promise of the Americans with Disabilities
Act;
Whereas individuals of color with disabilities experience
disproportionately greater barriers to high-quality and
accessible health care, education, housing, and competitive
integrated employment opportunities, infringing on the right
of individuals to fully participate in their communities
under the Americans with Disabilities Act;
Whereas the Americans with Disabilities Act represents the
floor, not the ceiling, of efforts needed to dismantle
barriers to full participation, equal opportunity,
independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for
individuals with disabilities; and
Whereas fulfilling the promise of the Americans with
Disabilities Act requires individuals, families, communities,
and government to work together to guarantee that individuals
with disabilities have the opportunity to thrive in their
communities throughout their lives: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate—
(1) recognizes the importance of independent living, equal
opportunity, full participation, and economic self-
sufficiency for individuals with disabilities made possible
by the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) (referred to in this
resolution as the “Americans with Disabilities Act”);
(2) encourages the people of the United States to celebrate
the advancement of inclusion and equality of opportunity made
possible by the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities
Act;
(3) pledges to continue to work on a bipartisan basis to
identify and address the remaining barriers that undermine
the national goals of equality of opportunity, independent
living, economic self-sufficiency, and full participation for
individuals with disabilities, including by focusing on
individuals with disabilities who remain segregated in
institutions;
(4) pledges to work with States to improve funding for and
access to home and community-based services for individuals
with disabilities, with a focus on reducing and eliminating
institutionalization;
(5) admonishes against recent cuts, and any future cuts, to
the Medicaid program under title XIX of the Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) (referred to in this resolution
as “the Medicaid program”), including the establishment of
burdensome work-reporting requirements and other barriers,
which puts the health of individuals with disabilities at
risk and hinders the progress made since the enactment of the
Americans with Disabilities Act;
(6) calls on Congress to work in a bipartisan manner to
reverse the biggest cut to the Medicaid program in history
and increase funding for home- and community-based services;
(7) calls on the Department of Justice to immediately
rescind its incorrect and arbitrary interpretation of the
decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in
Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999) that was issued on June
18, 2026, relating to the integration mandate of title II of
the Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. 12131 et seq.)
and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C.
794);
(8) calls on Federal agencies to develop policies that
advance the goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act,
including by—
(A) condemning any executive or legislative action that
would dismantle or relocate major offices within the
Department of Education, including the Office of Special
Education and Rehabilitative Services and Office for Civil
Rights; and
(B) calling on the Department of Labor to develop policies
and practices, and to provide technical assistance, to
increase the number and quality of competitive integrated
employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities
that enable such individuals to become economically self-
sufficient;
(9) calls on the Department of Health and Human Services to
fully staff and support the Administration for Community
Living
and to champion independent living by providing information,
resources, technical assistance related to home and
community-based services, and supporting family caregivers;
(10) calls on the Department of Housing and Urban
Development to provide accessible and inclusive homes and
communities that increase the options available for
accessible, inclusive, and equitable housing for individuals
with disabilities;
(11) calls on the Department of Transportation to create
accessible transit and airports and increase the hiring,
promotion, and retention of individuals with disabilities in
the transportation workforce;
(12) calls on the Federal Communications Commission to
provide information, resources, and technical assistance to
enable individuals with disabilities to have full and
equitable access to communications and telecommunications
services and technologies; and
(13) calls on the Federal Emergency Management Agency to
continue to implement a whole community approach and to
increase inclusivity and accessibility in emergency
preparedness.