§1331 Rights and protections under Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 relating to public services and accommodations; procedures for remedy of violations

Summary

Makes the disability access rules from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) apply to many parts of Congress and related offices. It covers every Senate and House office, committees, joint committees, the Office of Congressional Accessibility Services, Capitol Police, Congressional Budget Office, Architect of the Capitol (and Botanic Garden), Attending Physician, Congressional Workplace Rights, Office of Technology Assessment, and the Library of Congress. Definitions: "public entity" means any of these that run public services or programs; "qualified individual with a disability" means a person who meets the ADA disability rules; "Library visitor" means someone who can bring an ADA claim against the Library of Congress (not an employee claim handled only under a different rule). A person with a disability can file a charge with the Office General Counsel within 180 days of the problem. The General Counsel must investigate. If helpful, the General Counsel can ask the parties to try mediation but cannot take part. If mediation fails and a violation may have happened, the General Counsel can file a complaint, which goes to a hearing officer. The person who filed the charge may join the case. The Board can review the hearing officer’s decision, and an aggrieved party can ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to review the final Board decision. If new appropriated money is needed to fix a problem, the fix must happen as soon as possible but no later than the fiscal year after the year in which the final order becomes final. The Board must make rules to carry out these steps, mostly matching the Attorney General’s and Transportation Secretary’s ADA rules unless a change is clearly better. The General Counsel must inspect these facilities at least once each Congress and send a report to Congressional leaders and the Architect of the Capitol that lists problems, how to fix them, and cost and time estimates. The period from January 23, 1995, through December 31, 1996, was set aside for offices to find and start fixing problems; the General Counsel had to inspect and report before July 1, 1996, for the One Hundred Fourth Congress. Library visitors may choose between the Office General Counsel process or other specified ADA procedures, and may switch choices before certain steps are taken. Subsections (b), (c), and (d) take effect January 1, 1997. Subsection (g) takes effect one year after a required study is sent to Congress.