Cite as: 528 U. S. 62 (2000)
Opinion of Thomas, J.
6(d)(2)(A) added to the statute of limitations provision of the FLSA, 29 U. S. C. § 255, a new subsection (d), which suspended the running of the statutory periods of limitation on "any cause of action brought under section 16(b) of the [FLSA, 29 U. S. C. § 216(b)] . . . on or before April 18, 1973," the date Employees was decided, until "one hundred and eighty days after the effective date of [the 1974 Amendments]." The purpose of this new subsection—revealed not only by its reference to the date Employees was decided, but also by its exception for actions in which "judgment has been entered for the defendant on the grounds other than State immunity from Federal jurisdiction"—was to allow FLSA plaintiffs who had been frustrated by state defendants' invocation of Eleventh Amendment immunity under Employees to avail themselves of the newly amended § 216(b).2 It appears, however, that Congress was oblivious to the impact of § 6(d)(2)(A) on the ADEA. The new § 255(d), by operation of § 7(e) of the ADEA, 29 U. S. C. § 626(e) (1988 ed.) ("Sectio[n] 255 . . . of this title shall apply to actions under this chapter"),3 automatically became part of the ADEA in 1974. And yet the new § 255(d) could have no possible application to the ADEA because, as the Court observes, ante, at 76 (citing § 28(a) of the 1974 Amendments), the ADEA's substantive mandates did not even apply to the States until the 1974 Amendments. Thus, before 1974,
2 That Congress had this purpose in mind as to the FLSA does not mean that the product of Congress' efforts—the amended § 216(b)—qualifies as a clear statement. The amended § 216(b)'s description of the forum as "any Federal . . . court of competent jurisdiction," 29 U. S. C. § 216(b) (emphasis added), is ambiguous insofar as a federal court might not be "competent" unless the state defendant consents to suit. See infra, at 108-109. My present point is simply that, even assuming the amended § 216(b) qualifies as a clear statement, the 1974 Congress likely did not contemplate the impact of the new § 216(b) on the ADEA.
3 The ADEA was amended in 1991 to remove the incorporating reference. See Civil Rights Act of 1991, § 115, 105 Stat. 1079, 29 U. S. C. § 626(e).
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