                  RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE 
                NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
                           JULY, 1991
                        by Ramona Walhof

     Resolutions of the National Federation of the Blind
constitute policy statements of the organization. Any member may
bring a proposed resolution to the Resolutions Committee, which
meets each year the day before the open board meeting at the
beginning of the convention. This year the Resolutions Committee
consisted of fifty members from all parts of the country. The
Committee hears and discusses resolutions and recommends changes
if it thinks appropriate. The bringer of the resolution may
accept or reject these changes. The Resolutions Committee may not
bottle up resolutions. It votes to recommend "do pass" or "do not
pass" and sends each resolution to the floor of the convention,
where it passes or fails. Only once in my memory of twenty-five
years has the convention ever deferred action on a resolution
until the following year. Part of the job of the NFB President is
to find the time on the convention agenda to discuss and vote on
resolutions.
     At the 1991 convention in New Orleans delegates voted on
twenty-one resolutions. One (91-101) was brought to the
convention by the NFB Board of Directors. It reiterates NFB
policy regarding airline treatment of the blind and is the first
resolution we are printing. The other twenty resolutions were all
brought to the Resolutions Committee. Nineteen were passed by the
convention, and one was soundly defeated. The texts of those that
passed are printed at the end of this article.
     Here is a brief statement describing each resolution and (in
some cases) giving some background information: 
     Resolution 91-101 reaffirms our long-standing commitment to
achieving equal treatment for blind citizens at the hands of
airline and FAA officials. 
     Resolution 91-01 urges Congress to continue to protect
informational mailings about blindness and the blind by
preserving adequate revenue forgone subsidy.
     Resolution 91-02 seeks to establish a national policy on
Braille literacy for the blind.
     Resolution 91-03 requests that clients have the right of
choice in rehabilitation.
     Background: The Federation and the Social Security
Administration have discussed for several years the approach of
giving clients whose rehabilitation costs can be reimbursed by
the Social Security Administration a choice of facilities from
which the client wishes to receive training. This approach is
currently being tested by Social Security. The concept has been
discussed with members of Congress during our Washington Seminars
for the last three years and has become increasingly popular.
Other groups of the disabled have now espoused the concept of
freedom of choice. As often happens, the Federation has plowed
the ground and continues to lead the way.
     Resolution 91-04 opposes continued recognition of NAC as an
accrediting body by the Department of Education.
     Resolution 91-05 calls upon the Federal Communications
Commission to exclude blindness as a condition for waiver of the
Morse Code Proficiency Test.
     Resolution 91-06 advocates that affirmative action standards
be applied to sheltered workshops for the blind.
     Resolution 91-07 opposes the American Association of State
Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) proposal for
highway rest stops.
     Background: AASHTO has introduced in Congress a bill to
commercialize (open new businesses) at highway rest stops.
Approximately 200 blind vendors are now earning a living by
managing vending machine operations at highway rest stops, and a
number of state licensing agencies are receiving substantial
income as well. All of this would be jeopardized by the AASHTO
proposal. The resolution does not oppose all expanded business
activity at highway rest stops, only this AASHTO proposal. If
commercialization is to take place, agencies for the blind should
be permitted to maintain the priority established by the Kennelly
Amendment to the Surface Transportation Act of 1982--an amendment
which was introduced and passed at the request of the National
Federation of the Blind.
     Resolution 91-08 requests the support of the Social Security
Administration and Congress in maintaining the relationship
between the earnings exemption of seniors and substantial gainful
activity for the blind.
     Resolution 91-09 supports the Independent Older Blind
Individuals Amendments of 1991, HR 2437.
     Resolution 91-10 advocates that the week of January 4, Louis
Braille's birthday, be proclaimed National Braille Literacy Week.
     Resolution 91-11 calls upon the Hadley School for the Blind
to continue offering foreign language courses.
     Resolution 91-12 calls upon all agencies that are NAC
accredited to withdraw from association with NAC.
     Resolution 91-13 opposes the National Commission on
Blindness as sponsored by the Affiliated Leadership League of and
for the Blind of America and the Association for Education and
Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired.
     Background: A majority of the Committee on Joint
Organizational Effort discussed and supported a different
proposal for a National Commission on Blindness, offering
appropriate representation to all groups concerned. ALL and AER
are supporting this alternative, minority proposal for their own
political purposes.
     Resolution 91-14 reaffirms the NFB position that blind
individuals should be permitted to serve in the armed forces in
noncombat positions and further states that blind persons should
be able to serve in combat positions when qualified.
     Resolution 91-15 commends the Social Security Administration
for recognizing the need to modernize the Supplemental Security
Income Program and recommends a speedy response to good
recommendations from the modernization team.
     Resolution 91-16 supports ACCO7--Informational Barriers from
the White House Conference on Library Services and urges a policy
that library services in alternative media be on a par with
library services to the sighted.
     Resolution 91-17 urges state legislatures not to create
boards to regulate dog guide schools.
     Resolution 91-18 calls upon the U.S. Department of Justice
to adopt regulations pursuant to the Americans With Disabilities
Act requiring publishers to cooperate in making print materials
accessible to the blind.
     Resolution 91-19, which was overwhelmingly voted down, would
have declared employment of the blind to be the Federation's top
priority. The convention reaffirmed the Federation's commitment
to employment as one of the top priorities of the Federation but
felt that it would send the wrong message to place it in a
category above all other issues--problems of the elderly,
literacy, changing public attitudes, and all of the other items
that constitute the agenda to move from second-class citizenship
to first-class status in society.
     Resolution 91-20 reaffirms the Federation's commitment to
combat unemployment for the blind as a top priority.

                        Resolution 91-101

     WHEREAS, the achievement of equality for blind persons is
the foundation stone of the National Federation of the Blind; and
     WHEREAS, equality in seating on public conveyances is deeply
symbolic of equality in the broader society; and
     WHEREAS, many blind people have suffered the humiliation of
public harassment and arrest, and all blind people have suffered
the indignity of being classified as incompetent and treated
differently by airline officials and the Federal Aviation
Administration; and
     WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind has made equal
treatment of blind persons by the airlines a top priority because
achievement of this goal will bring blind people a long step
closer to the establishment of real and symbolic equality in our
society; Now, Therefore:
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this sixth day of July, 1991, in the city of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that we, the members of the National
Federation of the Blind, do hereby reaffirm our continuing
commitment to winning the struggle for equality in the airline
battle; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this commitment shall constitute
an ongoing major priority of the organized blind movement.

                        Resolution 91-01

     WHEREAS, public misunderstanding and lack of social
acceptance remain the principal obstacles to productive
independence and equality for the blind in the United States; and
     WHEREAS, these conditions can best be addressed through
education and outreach activities, including the mass-
distribution of accurate information about blindness so that
sighted members of the general public can better understand the
needs of the blind and support efforts to meet those needs; and 
     WHEREAS, mass-communication by mail is an effective means of
outreach to improve opportunities for the blind, and use of the
mails for this purpose could not continue with further increases
in postal rates at this time; and 
     WHEREAS, Congress is considering ways to continue and fund
the preferred-rate mail service program (also known as the
revenue forgone payment to the Postal Service), which makes
mailings by and on behalf of the blind possible; and 
     WHEREAS, in the distribution of publications and information
by and on behalf of blind persons, access to the mails is the
only practical and cost-effective method available, and loss of
this access would have catastrophic consequences for blind people
throughout this country:  Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this sixth day of July, 1991, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization support efforts
underway in Congress to assure that all informational and
educational materials sent by and on behalf of blind individuals
will continue to be eligible for mailing with the full benefit of
the revenue forgone postal subsidy and without further postal
rate increases at this time. 
 
                        Resolution 91-02

     WHEREAS, efficient reading and writing skills are the
essential tools of literacy, necessary for productive living--a
fact which applies to all persons whether sighted or blind; and 
     WHEREAS, literacy skills are the core of the basic
educational program provided to sighted students in elementary
and secondary education, but for blind students communications
skills become the subject of special education planning, where
virtually all presumed needs of a student can be sacrificed in
the name of individualized instruction; and 
     WHEREAS, literacy skills among the blind have fallen sharply
and are continuing to decline as a direct result of biases among
educators against the use of Braille by the blind and of the
widespread but utterly false notion that Braille should only be
taught as a last-resort measure; and 
     WHEREAS, receiving instruction in Braille and in other
skills essential to literacy should be recognized as a matter of
right for each blind student, and the denial of that right by
means of any practice or policy should be attacked as a form of
cruel discrimination against the blind; and 
     WHEREAS, the Bush Administration and the Congress are
considering legislation entitled the "America 2,000, Excellence
in Education Act," designed to help the nation achieve national
education goals by improving the nation's schools, including
improvements in literacy education for all students:  Now,
therefore, 
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this sixth day of July, 1991, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this Federation insist that literacy
education for blind individuals be recognized as a national
education goal to include Braille instruction for blind students
as a matter of right; and 
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization take all
appropriate steps to secure both administrative and legislative
support for a national Braille literacy campaign at the state and
federal levels. 

                        Resolution 91-03

     WHEREAS, publicly funded rehabilitation programs are
provided to blind individuals in a manner which limits the
selection of service-providing agencies to those only
specifically approved by the state agency in question; and 
     WHEREAS, the choice of a service-providing agency is a
fundamental decision which will almost always be related to the
outcome of the services purchased; and 
     WHEREAS, rehabilitation clients are now at the mercy of
state agency policies and counselors when the critical decision
is made as to the appropriate program to be used for personal
adjustment and training services; and 
     WHEREAS, the selection of any service-providing agency
should not be made as a matter of bureaucratic convenience or to
fill some quota established by the state for sending individuals
to certain preselected programs, regardless of their quality or
relevance; and 
     WHEREAS, the selection of a service-providing agency is
properly a matter of individual judgment, and the final choice to
be made does not require any form of specialized expertise or
training; therefore, the final choice should be made by the
individual and not by the agency or its counselors:  Now,
therefore, 
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this sixth day of July, 1991, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization urge the Congress
to adopt a "client's right of choice" provision to be observed by
all states as a condition for receiving federal funding for
vocational rehabilitation services; and 
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we request that the Bush
Administration make the "client's right of choice" provision a
national policy goal in rehabilitation, just as parental choice
in education has been made a national policy objective, bearing
the personal support of the President. 

                        Resolution 91-04

     WHEREAS, the National Accreditation Council for Agencies
Serving the Blind and Visually Handicapped (NAC) has applied to
renew its status as an accrediting agency recognized by the
Secretary of Education; and 
     WHEREAS, the Secretary maintains a list of accrediting
agencies that are recognized in particular fields only if they
meet all of the criteria established for recognition; and 
     WHEREAS, NAC fails to meet several of the published criteria
in that (1) accreditation is not required for agencies serving
the blind to participate in any federal program; (2) NAC is not
generally supported by agencies and professionals in the field of
blindness, and NAC is certainly not supported by consumers; and
(3) NAC lacks the resources (both financial and personnel) to
carry out its mission; and 
     WHEREAS, in view of these failures the Secretary of
Education should reject NAC'S application, just as virtually the
entire blindness field (both agencies and consumers) has now
rejected NAC:  Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this sixth day of July, 1991, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that we strongly oppose the petition
filed by NAC for continued recognition by the Secretary of
Education; and 
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge the Secretary to reject
NAC'S petition on the basis of the evidence that NAC does not
meet the established criteria for recognition. 

                        Resolution 91-05

     WHEREAS, the blind participate in all facets of the hobby of
amateur radio on a basis of complete equality with their sighted
peers; and 
     WHEREAS, most classes of amateur radio licenses require the
demonstration of proficiency in receiving the International Morse
Code; and 
     WHEREAS, the Morse Code is primarily an aural mode of
communication, with no vision being required to utilize fully the
code, and with no need of adaptive equipment or techniques; and 
     WHEREAS, blindness is not an obstacle to Morse Code
proficiency; and 
     WHEREAS, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
recently amended the regulations governing the Amateur Radio
Service to permit waiver of Morse Code proficiency tests for the
physically handicapped, including the blind; and 
     WHEREAS, waiver of code tests for amateur radio license
applicants who are blind perpetuates the notion that the blind
are inferior and are incapable of competing on terms of equality
with their sighted peers:  Now, therefore, 
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this sixth day of July, 1991, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that the organization call upon the
Federal Communications Commission to amend the rules governing
the Amateur Radio Service (Part 97) specifically to exclude
blindness as a condition for waiver of Morse Code proficiency
tests for amateur radio license applicants. 

                        Resolution 91-06

     WHEREAS, most Federal contractors are required to take
affirmative action to employ and promote qualified individuals
with disabilities; and 
     WHEREAS, sheltered workshops which employ the blind receive
substantial federal contracts under priority arrangements
prescribed by the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act; and 
     WHEREAS, at least seventy-five percent of the direct labor
hours of work under such contracts must be performed by blind or
other severely handicapped individuals, but hours of work in
management and supervision are not under a similar requirement;
and 
     WHEREAS, affirmative action principles have not been applied
to these workshops, resulting in a pattern of discrimination
whereby blind people are represented only as tokens in management
and supervision; and 
     WHEREAS, responsible officials of the United States
Department of Labor have adopted a hands-off posture and failed
to scrutinize employment practices affecting the blind in the
Javits-Wagner-O'Day program, thereby allowing the workshops to
evade their affirmative action obligation:  Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this sixth day of July, 1991, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization request a
comprehensive compliance review of employment practices affecting
the blind by sheltered workshops in the Javits-Wagner-O'Day
program, such review to be made by the Office of Federal Contract
Compliance Programs of the United States Department of Labor; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Labor, Office
of Federal Contract Compliance Programs is hereby urged to
identify any and all remedies (including the possible need for
legislative changes) which would improve affirmative action
opportunities for blind persons in sheltered workshops that
provide services or products to the government.  

                        Resolution 91-07

     WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind was successful
in securing federal legislation (known as the Kennelly amendment)
allowing for the sale of products through vending machines to be
operated by or on behalf of blind persons at interstate highway
rest-stop areas; and 
     WHEREAS, the American Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has requested changes in the
law to permit a wide variety of products and services to be sold
by commercial firms at rest, recreation, and safety areas
throughout the national interstate highway system; and 
     WHEREAS, AASHTO has identified as many as fourteen hundred
sites which it says are appropriate for commercial development if
federal legislation is approved; and 
     WHEREAS, AASHTO'S proposal for commercialized development of
rest stop areas has been submitted to the Congress in the form of
the Bush Administration's bill for continuing and expanding the
nation's surface transportation and highway improvement programs;
and 
     WHEREAS, the AASHTO proposal would provide a priority for
blind persons only for the operation of vending machines and then
destroy the value of this priority by allowing merchandise and
services to be sold over the counter by commercial firms in
direct competition with blind vendors; and 
     WHEREAS, The United States Senate has rejected AASHTO'S
rest-stop commercialization proposal by failing to include it in
surface transportation amendments passed in June and sent to the
House:  Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this sixth day of July, 1991, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that we call upon the House of
Representatives to concur with the Senate in turning thumbs down
on AASHTO'S commercialization proposal; and 
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization support
efforts to expand the sale of merchandise and services at
interstate highway areas only if there is a clear mandate for
blind persons to have a priority in conducting such sales,
whether by way of vending machines or otherwise.  


                        Resolution 91-08

     WHEREAS, blind individuals eligible to receive disability
insurance benefits under Social Security are subject to an
earnings limitation, referred to as the "substantial gainful
activity test"; and 
     WHEREAS, the provision in law which governs the amount of
countable earnings allowed under the substantial gainful activity
test for working blind persons is the exempt earnings provision
applicable to retired persons, age 65 to 69; and 
     WHEREAS, several proposals are pending in the Congress to
alter the exempt earnings provision for retirees by removing the
earnings limitation altogether or by substantially raising the
current exemption; and 
     WHEREAS, the Social Security earnings limitation both for
senior citizens and for working-age blind persons is economically
unsound and socially harmful in that severe income penalties are
levied against persons who attempt to become or to remain 
productive; and 
     WHEREAS, most of the pending proposals to raise or eliminate
the earnings limitation would repeal the statutory relationship
between substantial gainful activity for the blind and the exempt
earnings provision for senior citizens, providing a work
incentive for seniors while continuing to penalize blind persons
who work; and 
     WHEREAS, the Social Security Administration has voiced
support for raising the earnings exemption for seniors but has
taken no particular stand pertaining to what effect (if any) a
change in the law should have on allowed earnings for the blind: 
Now, therefore, 
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this sixth day of July, 1991, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization request the
support of the Social Security Administration for maintaining the
present statutory relationship between the earnings exemption for
seniors and substantial gainful activity for the blind, if the
earnings limitation is raised or removed; and 
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge all members and
responsible leaders in the Congress to reject proposals to raise
or remove the earnings limitation under Social Security unless
provisions are included to exempt the earnings of blind persons
to the same extent allowed for seniors.  

                        Resolution 91-09

     WHEREAS, Representative Edward Roybal has introduced H. R.
2437, a bill entitled the Independent Older Blind Individuals
Amendments of 1991; and 
     WHEREAS, this legislation would establish a formula grant
program and authorize an appropriation of $26 million in federal
funds for distribution among all states so that needed adjustment
and training services could be provided to older persons who
become blind; and 
     WHEREAS, Mr. Roybal's bill proposes a much-needed expansion
of the federal program of grants to independent living projects
for the older blind, started under legislation originally
developed by the National Federation of the Blind:  Now,
therefore, 
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this sixth day of July, 1991, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this Federation express strong
support for the Independent Older Blind Individuals Amendments of
1991, in the form of H. R. 2437; and 
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge the responsible members
and committees of the Congress to recognize the need for
expanding services to older blind Americans by enacting H. R.
2437 at the earliest opportunity during the 102nd Congress.  

                        Resolution 91-10

     WHEREAS, in recent years the instruction and use of Braille
have fallen to an appallingly low level; and 
     WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind is striving to
reverse this trend; and 
     WHEREAS, it is essential that society recognize Braille as
the key to literacy for blind people; and 
     WHEREAS, the inventor of the Braille Code, Louis Braille,
was born on January 4, 1809:  Now, therefore, 
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this sixth day of July, 1991, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization call upon the
Congress of the United States to proclaim the week of January 4
National Braille Literacy Week. 

                        Resolution 91-11

     WHEREAS, the Hadley School for the Blind has for many
decades offered foreign language correspondence courses in
Braille to the blind of the United States and other countries;
and 
     WHEREAS, the Hadley School for the Blind is the sole
provider in the world of such courses for blind students; and 
     WHEREAS, having foreign language courses in Braille offers
definite advantages to blind students who can thereby gain
reading and spelling proficiency as well as speaking proficiency
in the language; and 
     WHEREAS, proficiency in foreign languages is assuming ever
increasing importance in the world of work; and 
     WHEREAS, Hadley recently has made a policy decision to
discontinue all foreign language courses, claiming low enrollment
figures and difficulties in the process of teaching foreign
language by correspondence:  Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this sixth day of July, 1991, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization condemn the Hadley
School for the Blind for cutting off such an important channel
for education and employment of blind persons and for doing so
without prior consultation with the organized blind movement; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon the
Hadley School for the Blind to rescind this policy decision and
to continue its teaching of foreign languages while seeking ways
to raise its enrollment levels and improve its teaching
methodology.

                        Resolution 91-12

     WHEREAS, the National Accreditation Council for Agencies
Serving the Blind and Visually Handicapped (NAC) is on the ropes
financially and exists in name only and as a shell of an
organization; and 
     WHEREAS, NAC is dying and cannot survive because it has
existed primarily as a source of friction and divisiveness in the
blindness field, pitting agency against agency and blind
consumers against agencies; and 
     WHEREAS, NAC'S failure to attain financial stability in
twenty-five years of trying amply demonstrates that NAC is merely
a political tool and not a legitimately constituted accreditation
agency; and 
     WHEREAS, even NAC'S staunchest supporters and its principal
financier, the American Foundation for the Blind, have wisely
recognized that continuing to keep NAC afloat financially is not
a constructive policy either for blind people or for the field of
blindness in general:  Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this sixth day of July, 1991, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization applaud and
support the withdrawal of any agency from NAC because use of
agency resources for NAC'S face-saving survival campaign is a
harmful disservice to the blind; and 
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call upon all agencies in the
blindness field (including NAC'S current and former members) to
put NAC in the past and to move more constructively toward a new
era of unity and common purpose on behalf of all blind people.  

                        Resolution 91-13

     WHEREAS, the Affiliated Leadership League of and for the
Blind of America (ALL) and the Association for Education and
Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER) are
seeking the introduction of a bill in Congress to appoint a
national commission for the stated purpose of studying the needs
of the blind and to recommend legislative and policy changes to
provide improvements in services to the blind; and 
     WHEREAS, the purposes and structure of such a commission
must be discussed extensively and agreed upon in advance by all
major interest groups affected and, in this case, the views of
the blind, themselves, must clearly have weight if such a
commission is to be developed at all; and 
     WHEREAS, the campaign by ALL and AER for a national
commission on blindness is more a matter of self-serving
organizational politics than it is the expression of a generally
felt consensus that such a commission is needed at this time; and
     WHEREAS, ALL and AER do not represent the movement of the
organized blind and are not representative of the blind, a fact
which suggests that this agenda is not in harmony with the needs
of blind consumers:  Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this sixth day of July, 1991, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization oppose the
proposal for a national commission on blindness as it is
presently constituted and sponsored by the Affiliated Leadership
League of and for the Blind of America and the Association for
Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired;
and 
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization advise all
members of Congress that the national commission on blindness
proposal lacks the support of blind consumers and should not be
adopted unless changes in the proposal are made and the support
of the blind themselves obtained.  

                        Resolution 91-14

     WHEREAS, many blind persons wish to serve their country in
the armed forces just as do their sighted peers; and 
     WHEREAS, it is the firmly-established policy of the National
Federation of the Blind that the blind should be subject to the
military draft if it is reinstituted (Resolution 80-01) and that
the blind should be allowed to serve in the armed forces of the
United States in noncombat assignments (Resolutions 82-16, 85-16,
and 87-14); and 
     WHEREAS, there may be combat duty assignments or tasks
within a theater of combat which qualified blind individuals
could perform with skill, honor, and distinction; and 
     WHEREAS, failure to exploit fully the resource of qualified
blind persons in such situations would be a waste of talent and
would constitute discriminatory treatment and a denial of their
opportunity fully to exercise their rights and responsibilities
as first-class citizens:  Now, therefore, 
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this sixth day of July, 1991, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that we reaffirm our demand that
qualified blind persons be allowed to serve in the armed forces
of the United States in noncombat assignments; and 
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that such persons be allowed to
perform duty assignments within theaters of combat commensurate
with their skills, talents, and capacities. 

                        Resolution 91-15

     WHEREAS, in 1972, Title XVI was added to the Social Security
Act to establish the Supplemental Security Income benefit
payments program for needy aged, blind, and disabled persons; and
     WHEREAS, Title XVI and the regulations promulgated therefrom
became effective in 1974; and 
     WHEREAS, over the past seventeen years, the SSI Program has
remained virtually unchanged and has failed to keep in step with
and has fallen far short of the economic and demographic changes
within our society; and 
     WHEREAS, Gwendolyn King, Commissioner of the Social Security
Administration, has appointed a Supplemental Security Income
Modernization Team of experts for the express purpose of
collecting and compiling data to formulate suggested changes to
update the SSI Program; and   
     WHEREAS, the Social Security Administration is to be
commended for its efforts to modernize the antiquated SSI
program; and 
     WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind presented
testimony to the SSI Modernization Team suggesting that the
income and resource disregards be increased to a level
commensurate with current economic standards; and 
     WHEREAS, the SSI Modernization Team will soon issue its
findings and recommendations for changes in legislation; and 
     WHEREAS, it is expected that these findings and
recommendations will include the suggestions offered in testimony
by the National Federation of the Blind; and 
     WHEREAS, it is essential for the Department of Health and
Human Services and the United States Congress to recognize the
urgency for modernizing the SSI law:  Now, therefore, 
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this sixth day of July, 1991, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization commend the Social
Security Administration for recognizing the serious and long
overdue need to evaluate and modernize the Supplemental Security
Income Program by the appointment of the SSI Modernization Team;
and 
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, to the extent that the soon-to-
be-released findings and recommendations of the SSI Modernization
Team support the suggestions of the National Federation of the
Blind, we call upon the Department of Health and Human Services
and the United States Congress to act expeditiously upon these
recommendations to reform the Supplemental Security Income
Program.  

                        Resolution 91-16

     WHEREAS, although sighted people may obtain written
information from book stores, news stands, retail stores,
schools, and countless other locations, including local public
libraries, blind people are systematically and routinely denied
ready access to the printed word; and 
     WHEREAS, the primary source of material in Braille, tape,
and disc for blind people is the National Library Service for the
Blind and Physically Handicapped of the Library of Congress
(NLS); and 
     WHEREAS, with its current funding NLS can produce far less
than one percent of the material which is made available to the
sighted each year; and 
     WHEREAS, the lack of available materials and proper
instruction in Braille means that far too many blind people,
including the majority of today's blind children and youth, are
functionally illiterate; and 
     WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), the
nation's largest organization of blind people, has over the years
led the way and been committed to ensuring equitable print access
and Braille literacy services to blind people through, among
other things, its strong legislative advocacy in obtaining
funding for NLS programs; and 
     WHEREAS, the 1991 White House Conference on Library and
Information Services has as its themes Literacy, Democracy, and
Productivity--themes which are in harmony with the goals of the
NFB; and 
     WHEREAS, one set of recommendations to be considered by
delegates at the White House Conference is entitled
Recommendation ACCO7--Informational Barriers, which states:
     "(1) The Federal Government should increase the 'fenced'
funding for the Library of Congress Service for the Blind and
Physically Handicapped in order to provide expanded production of
Braille, cassette, and disc books and magazines as well as the
necessary equipment for users; 
     "(2) If required, Congressional legislated funding should be
allocated to ensure the uninterrupted free postal transmission of
these materials;
     "(3) There should be a program of research and development
enacted to examine new and promising technologies for achieving
the same goal in a more cost-effective manner;
     "(4) Literacy in alternative media such as Braille should be
encouraged and affirmed":  Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this sixth day of July, 1991, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this Federation support ACCO7--
Informational Barriers from the White House Conference on Library
Services; and 
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge the White House
Conference to adopt a policy that the National Library Service
for the Blind and Physically Handicapped provide blind people
with library and information technology services in an
alternative medium which is on a par with the library services
available to their sighted peers.

                        Resolution 91-17

     WHEREAS, the beginning of a deleterious trend in guide dog
training and provision is observable in the State of California;
and 
     WHEREAS, this trend is based on detailed and erroneous state
legislation and regulation regarding guide dogs; and   
     WHEREAS, examples of this inappropriate state interference
include refusing to transfer ownership of the guide dog to the
blind person, refusing to recognize experienced guide dog users
if the experience was acquired out of state, refusing to permit
training of guide dogs in a home setting, and refusing to support
equal access for blind persons with guide dogs who were privately
trained; and 
     WHEREAS, the inappropriate state legislation and regulations
also stifle the creative and competitive forces that can yield
new techniques and approaches by prohibiting private guide dog
training and by constructing impossibly high barriers to the
establishment of new training facilities; and 
     WHEREAS, while protecting the employees of training
facilities from accountability to consumers and state
investigators, the Board in California has provided no protection
to blind consumers from poor training, custodialism, and
misrepresentation to the public by these same employees; and
     WHEREAS, the Board's monopolistic approach is inconsistent
with the Americans with Disabilities Act and its state-centered
approach is inconsistent with the long established right to
travel freely throughout our nation; and 
     WHEREAS, several other states are considering adopting the
same wasteful and harmful legislative and regulatory framework as
the California State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind; and 
     WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind of California
is vigorously and courageously opposing these trespasses on
dignity and common sense:  Now, therefore, 
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this sixth day of July, 1991, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization urge state
legislatures to abandon consideration of legislation to establish
regulatory agencies similar to the California Board of Guide Dogs
for the Blind and urge the California legislature to abandon this
unfortunate and long-lasting experiment. 

                        Resolution 91-18

     WHEREAS, most published information is produced in a form
that is not directly accessible to the blind because the
publishers of such information have had no obligation to produce
it in a medium that blind people can read by themselves; and 
     WHEREAS, publishers are public accommodations as that term
is used in the Americans with Disabilities Act and are therefore
now obliged to provide blind people with direct access to the
words they disseminate; and 
     WHEREAS, access is readily achievable with existing
technology and must be enforced through regulations to be
promulgated by the Department of Justice:  Now, therefore, 
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this sixth day of July, 1991, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization urge the
Department of Justice to specify, in the regulations for the
Americans with Disabilities Act, the duty of publishers to take
positive steps to cooperate with all public and private entities
in making published material accessible to the blind; and 
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Federation of the
Blind pledge to work with the Department of Justice to assure
that the Americans with Disabilities Act is interpreted and
implemented by the federal government and the publishing industry
in a way that augments and does not conflict with the important
work performed by the Library of Congress National Library
Service, Recording for the Blind, and others who produce
materials in media usable by the blind population. 

                        Resolution 91-20

     WHEREAS, seventy percent of working-age blind persons are
unemployed or severely underemployed; and 
     WHEREAS, this fact is not a temporary, passing phenomenon
but a steady, stubborn pattern that has existed for decades; and 
     WHEREAS, experience, research, and logic demonstrate that
joblessness among the blind is due, not to limitations of
blindness, but to mistaken attitudes and poor training; and 
     WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind has worked
hard to combat this problem in many ways, including the Job
Opportunities for the Blind Information and Referral Program,
legislative campaigns to achieve enactment of nondiscrimination
laws in various occupations, court battles to enforce such laws,
public education about the capacities of blind persons, and
numerous other activities on local, state, and national levels;
and 
     WHEREAS, we are justifiably proud of these efforts for the
positive impact they have had on the welfare of the blind; and 
     WHEREAS, this 51st anniversary convention is a time both to
celebrate our accomplishments and to plan strategically for even
greater success in the years ahead; and 
     WHEREAS, the unemployment problem persists in ugly
proportions, often damaging the security and psyches of thousands
of our blind brothers and sisters; and 
     WHEREAS, our society as a whole thereby also suffers in its
economic health and spiritual well-being:  Now, therefore, 
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this sixth day of July, 1991, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this Federation hereby reaffirm its
long-term commitment to combating unemployment of blind people
and declare this matter to be a top priority in our struggle for
first-class citizenship; and 
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization orient and
coordinate its programs and activities in light of this
priority.Copyright National Federation of the Blind, Inc., 1991
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