Cite as: 528 U. S. 62 (2000)
Opinion of Thomas, J.
subsection). Nor have our cases required that such separate sections or subsections of an Act be passed at the same time. Union Gas, supra, at 7-13, and n. 2 (consulting original provisions of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 and 1986 amendments to that Act). But, even accepting Union Gas to be correctly decided, I do not think the situation where Congress amends an incorporated provision is analogous to Union Gas. In the Union Gas setting, where the later Congress actually amends the earlier enacted Act, it is reasonable to assume that the later Congress focused on each of the various provisions, whether new or old, that combine to express an intent to abrogate.
III
Even if a clarifying amendment to an incorporated provision might sometimes provide a clear statement to abrogate for purposes of the Act into which the provision is incorporated, this is not such a case for two reasons. First, § 626(b) does not clearly incorporate the part of § 216(b) that establishes a private right of action against employers. Second, even assuming § 626(b) incorporates § 216(b) in its entirety, § 216(b) itself falls short of an "unmistakably clear" expression of Congress' intent to abrogate the States' Eleventh Amendment immunity from suit in federal court.
A
I do not dispute that § 626(b) incorporates into the ADEA some provisions of § 216(b). But it seems to me at least open to debate whether § 626(b) incorporates the portion of § 216(b) that creates an individual private right of action, for the ADEA already contains its own private right-of-action provision—§ 626(c)(1). See McKennon v. Nashville Banner Publishing Co., 513 U. S. 352, 358 (1995) ("The ADEA . . . contains a vital element found in both Title VII and the Fair Labor Standards Act: It grants an injured employee a
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