Condemning a legal opinion issued by the U.S. Department of Justice on June 18, 2026, regarding the Olmstead v. L.C., the 1999 Supreme Court decision that recognized institutional isolation of people with disabilities as discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1469 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1469

Condemning a legal opinion issued by the U.S. Department of Justice on 
 June 18, 2026, regarding the Olmstead v. L.C., the 1999 Supreme Court 
    decision that recognized institutional isolation of people with 
 disabilities as discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities 
                                  Act.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 3, 2026

  Mrs. Dingell (for herself and Ms. Scanlon) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and 
in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Education and 
 Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
Condemning a legal opinion issued by the U.S. Department of Justice on 
 June 18, 2026, regarding the Olmstead v. L.C., the 1999 Supreme Court 
    decision that recognized institutional isolation of people with 
 disabilities as discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities 
                                  Act.

Whereas section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794) (referred 
        to in this resolution as ``section 504'') prohibits discrimination on 
        the basis of disability in all federally assisted programs or activities 
        and laid the foundation for the passage of the Americans with 
        Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) (referred to in this 
        resolution as ``the ADA'');
Whereas in 1977, the former Department of Health, Education, and Welfare issued 
        implementing regulations for section 504 requiring recipients of Federal 
        funds to provide services and programs in a manner that affords people 
        with disabilities an ``equal opportunity to obtain the same results, to 
        gain the same benefit, or to reach the same achievement, in the most 
        integrated setting appropriate to the person's'' needs (sections 
        84.4(b)(1)(iii) and 84.4(b)(2) of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, 
        as in effect on the date of issuance);
Whereas in 1978, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare issued a 
        similar rule requiring recipients of funds from the Department to 
        ``administer programs and activities in the most integrated setting 
        appropriate to the needs of qualified'' persons with disabilities (43 
        Fed. Reg. 2132);
Whereas in 1978, Congress amended section 504 to strengthen and clarify its 
        nondiscrimination requirements, thereby ratifying the 1977 and 1978 
        regulations and incorporating the regulations into the Rehabilitation 
        Act of 1973;
Whereas in the ADA, Congress found that the isolation and segregation of 
        individuals with disabilities is a serious and pervasive form of 
        discrimination;
Whereas through passage of the ADA, Congress intended that forms of 
        discrimination prohibited under section 504 and its implementing 
        regulations, including unnecessary segregation, be prohibited under the 
        ADA as well;
Whereas on June 22, 1999, the Supreme Court in Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581 
        (1999) (referred to in this resolution as ``the Olmstead decision''), 
        held that under the ADA, 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 recognized in the Olmstead decision that 
        ``institutional placement of persons who can handle and benefit from 
        community settings perpetuates unwarranted assumptions that persons so 
        isolated are incapable or unworthy of participating in community life'';
Whereas the Supreme Court 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 the Olmstead decision and the integration mandate of the ADA and section 
        504 have repeatedly been affirmed by courts across the United States, by 
        Congress, and in Federal regulations and guidance, prohibiting States 
        from forcing people with disabilities into segregated settings, such as 
        psychiatric hospitals, nursing homes, segregated schools, and sheltered 
        workshops, when those people could be served in their homes and 
        communities;
Whereas as a result of the integration mandate, many individuals with 
        disabilities have been able to live in their own homes and community-
        based settings, rather than institutional settings, and to 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 resolution as ``the Medicaid program'');
Whereas despite 5 decades of legal requirements, many individuals with 
        disabilities continue to live in segregated institutional settings, 
        where they face abuse and neglect and limitations on their individual 
        freedoms, including solitary confinement;
Whereas on June 18, 2026, 4 days before the 27th anniversary of the Olmstead 
        decision, the Department of Justice issued a deeply flawed opinion that 
        rejects the integration mandate and threatens the hard-won progress 
        towards full integration of individuals with disabilities into society 
        in the United States;
Whereas the Department of Justice's opinion does not overrule decades-old 
        integration and nondiscrimination requirements under section 504, the 
        ADA, or the Olmstead decision;
Whereas the Department of Justice admits in its own opinion that its 
        interpretation of the Olmstead decision is ``out of step with common 
        understanding of that decision within Federal courts''; and
Whereas on July 20, 2026, the Department of Justice issued a notice stating that 
        guidance on enforcing Olmstead and the integration mandate, which they 
        relied upon for the past 15 years, was not enforceable, and that the 
        Department of Justice would no longer rely upon it in its enforcement of 
        Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act; the notice also stated 
        that the Department of Justice plans to revisit the guidance.: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns--
                    (A) the Department of Justice's incorrect and 
                arbitrary interpretation of the Olmstead decision and 
                its misperceptions about what Congress intended; and
                    (B) the recent cuts, and any future cuts, to 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 section 504 and the ADA;
            (2) calls on--
                    (A) the Department of Justice to immediately 
                rescind its opinion that was issued on June 18, 2026, 
                concerning the integration mandate of title II of the 
                ADA and section 504; and
                    (B) Congress to work in a bipartisan manner to 
                reverse the biggest cut to Medicaid in history and 
                increase funding for home- and community-based 
                services;
            (3) salutes all people whose efforts have contributed to 
        the expansion of home- and community-based long-term services 
        and supports for individuals with disabilities; and
            (4) affirms the Olmstead decision's vital importance to 
        ending the unjustified institutionalization and segregation of 
        individuals with disabilities.
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