July 22, 2026
The Honorable Mike Lee, Chair
Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
363 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Steve Daines, Chair Subcommittee on National Parks
Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
320 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Martin Heinrich, Ranking
Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
709 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 230510
The Honorable Angus King, Ranking
Subcommittee on National Parks
Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
133 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Chairs Lee and Daines and Ranking Members Heinrich and King:
The National Federation of the Blind strongly supports and endorses S. 3371, the National Museum of the Blind People’s Movement Act. This bill will designate the upcoming Museum of the Blind People’s Movement, to be located in the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, as the official National Museum of the Blind People’s Movement.
Throughout the course of our eight-decade crusade to ensure the full integration of the blind into society on the basis of equality, the National Federation of the Blind has acquired innumerable artifacts, documents, and literature detailing the individual and collective accomplishments and struggles of blind people and how those individuals have contributed to the broader American society.
Given that the United States has no cultural institution that centers the experience of blind people and elevates the understanding of how those individuals have worked together to improve society and to change the negative misconceptions about the blind, we have chosen to commit to the collection, preservation, and curation of this history through the Museum of the Blind People’s Movement.
We believe that this state-of-the-art inclusive, accessible, and innovative museum experience, will be a tremendous opportunity for people from all walks of life to learn about the civil rights movement of blind Americans at the nation’s only blind-owned and blind-led museum.
The museum, as well as the existing archive which is currently available to researchers, will serve as a national platform to explore the struggles and successes of the blind as individuals, as collectives, and as a movement. This is not a museum focused on blindness; it is a museum focused on the people and the initiatives that have shattered barriers to help create the understanding that blindness is merely one of many human characteristics.
For these reasons, the National Federation of the Blind wholeheartedly supports and endorses Congressional action to name the forthcoming Museum of the Blind People’s Movement the National Museum of the Blind People’s Movement via the passage of S. 3371.
Sincerely,
Mark A. Riccobono, President
National Federation of the Blind
CC: The Honorable Chris Van Hollen