From the desk of President Jason Perry For Immediate Release NCSD applauds ADA Restoration   This is great news for people with disabilities!   This morning, President George W. Bush signed the ADA Amendments Act into law in a private ceremony in the Oval Office.  Senate and House representatives from both parties were in attendance, as was former President George H.W. Bush, who signed the original Americans with Disabilities Act in July, 1990.   Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), co- sponsor with Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) of the bill in the Senate, issued a statement after the signing ceremony, saying,   The day, 18 years ago, when President Bush’s father signed the original Americans with Disabilities Act into law was the proudest day of my Senate career.  But this day comes close, because this new law overturns Supreme Court decisions that have taken away the rights of people with disabilities, and restores the original promise and protections of the ADA.  ... As chief Senate sponsor of both the original ADA and this new ADA Restoration act, I am deeply gratified that we could work in a bipartisan fashion to ensure that all Americans have the right to equal opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency.”   The ADA Amendments Act restores the coverage of the ADA to original congressional intent by modifying the definition of disability.  The Findings section of the law states, "the holdings of the Supreme Court ... have narrowed the broad scope of protection intended to be afforded by the ADA, thus eliminating protection for many individuals whom Congress intended to protect."      Congress stated that the purpose of this law is "to carry out the ADA's objectives of providing `a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination' and `clear, strong, consistent, enforceable standards addressing discrimination' by reinstating a broad scope of protection to be available under the ADA."   After nearly ten years of being put on hold by a series of narrow-minded Supreme Court decisions, civil rights protections have returned for people with disabilities. As President of The National Counsel for Support of Disability Issues (NCSD), one of our nation's leading resources for people with all disabilities, I salute America's law-makers on this great day.