2001 Convention Resolutions Report

2001 Convention Resolutions Report

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The Braille Monitor, August/September

2001 Edition

2001 Convention Resolutions Report

by

Sharon Maneki

(left to

right) Jim Gashel, President Maurer, and Sharon Maneki sit at the

Resolutions Committee meeting. Pat Maurer and Doug Elliott can be

seen in the background.

From the

Editor: Sharon Maneki, President of the NFB of Maryland, chairs the Resolutions

Committee. She and this year's committee secretary, Sharon Omvig, did an excellent

job of keeping track of the committee's work during the convention. Here is

Mrs. Maneki's summary of the resolutions considered by the Resolutions Committee

and passed by the Convention:

At

the change of the year Americans frequently talk about making resolutions for

the coming year. We resolve to lose weight, get more exercise, or engage in

other self-improving activities.

Statisticians

tell us that by the end of January most people break or forget about the resolutions

they made on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. Federationists may make resolutions

at the start of each new year, but we also think about resolutions at the start

of each National Convention. Federation resolutions have a better track record

then those made by many individuals. Our resolutions are policy statements

which remain in effect until another convention changes the policy.

The

language used in resolution-writing is formal and stilted: "Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED in convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2001, in the

City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that ..." However, each resolution

clearly announces our policy on a given subject. The recipient of a resolution

has no doubt about our intentions after reading the document. We praise past

action, offer condemnation of actions, and urge future action. The Resolutions

Committee carefully considers and debates each issue because we recognize the

impact of each resolution.

This year

the Resolutions Committee considered twenty resolutions. Eighteen resolutions

came to the convention floor. Resolution 2001-03, which called upon Federation

leaders to communicate with the membership using accessible formats as much

as possible, was withdrawn by the author after committee discussion. Ed Meskys,

President of the NFB of New Hampshire and the author of this resolution, withdrew

it because President Maurer explained that he already responds in Braille when

it is clear that this would be the most convenient format and agreed to make

an enhanced effort to communicate with members using their preferred medium,

including e-mail. During the convention Dr. Maurer encouraged state presidents

to provide his secretary with e-mail

addresses for themselves and their chapter presidents and then keep the list

updated.

Resolution

2001-08 was defeated in committee. The resolution called upon appropriate agencies

to provide a slightly steeper slope on the approach from the sidewalk into

the street instead of resorting to tactile warning strips.

The convention

passed seventeen resolutions. Resolution 2001-19 called upon Michigan State

University to lift its moratorium on admissions and enrollments in its vision-teacher

training programs. Fred Wurtzel, President of the NFB of Michigan and the author

of this resolution, withdrew it on the floor of the Convention, with the permission

of the Convention, so that a broader resolution on all vision-teacher-training

programs could be introduced next year. The Convention decided that vision

teacher training is a national problem and needs a broader focus than that

expressed in resolution 2001-19.

The seventeen resolutions passed by the convention illustrate both our accomplishments

and our future objectives.

The convention

passed three resolutions in praise of past actions. Noel Nightingale, a member

of the National Board of Directors and President of the NFB of Washington,

introduced resolution 2001-01. In this resolution we commend the Honorable

Roderick R. Paige, Secretary of Education, for upholding the rule that redefines

an employment outcome in the vocational rehabilitation program. We also applaud

Dr. Frederick K. Schroeder for his leadership in developing the new regulation

on employment outcomes.

In resolution

2001-12 we commend those agencies which are undertaking significant efforts

to implement section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act in both the letter and the

spirit of the law. We also call upon Congress and the Bush administration to

demand the cooperation of all departments and agencies of the federal government

in adopting policies and procedures to ensure the fair and uniform government-wide

application of this important law. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires

that all technology purchased, developed, or maintained by the Federal government

be accessible to people with disabilities, including the blind. Gary Wunder,

a member of the National Board of Directors and President of the NFB of Missouri,

was the author of this resolution.

James Gashel,

NFB Director of Governmental Affairs, introduced resolution 2001-18. In this

resolution we praise the Association of American Publishers, the American Foundation

for the Blind, the American Printing House for the Blind, RFB and D, and the

National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped for their

efforts in working constructively with us to develop the Instructional Materials

Accessibility Act.

We

also urge Congress to pass this act before the adjournment of the current session

so that blind students in elementary and secondary schools will have access

to material at the same time as their sighted peers. The act will require textbook

publishers to provide their products in a form of electronic text which could

then be readily converted into Braille and other specialized formats.

The convention

passed six resolutions opposing the actions of a variety of organizations.

Peggy Elliott, Second Vice President of the National Federation of the Blind

and President of the NFB of Iowa, introduced resolution 2001-05 which affirms

our longstanding opposition to NAC (the National Accreditation Council for

Agencies Serving the Blind and Visually Handicapped--now Blind and Visually

Impaired Persons). The resolution reads in part, "This organization declare[s]

NAC to be an artifact of the past and not relevant to the needs of the blind

in the twenty-first century."

James Omvig,

a long time leader in the Federation, was the author of resolution 2001-11,

which deals with certification of blindness specialists. The resolution outlines

the reasons for our opposition to certification by the Academy for Certification

of Vision Rehabilitation and Educational Professionals, which has now replaced

in name but not intention the certification provided by the Association for

Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER). The

National Blindness Professional Certification Board (NBPCB) was established

to serve as a positive, progressive alternative to AER/Academy certification.

In this resolution we urge all state education and rehabilitation agencies

to recognize performance-based certifying authorities such as the NBPCB.

In resolution

2001-14 we condemn and deplore opposition by the Consortium for Citizens with

Disabilities to the legislative priorities of blind Americans such as the elimination

of the sub-minimum wage. The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities portrays

itself as the representative voice of all people with disabilities. It does

not speak for the organized blind. The authors of this resolution were Brook

Sexton, the newly elected treasurer of the National Association of Blind Students

and a 2000 TenBroek Fellow, and Matt Lyles, a 2001 scholarship winner.

Scott LaBarre,

President of the National Association of Blind Lawyers, sponsored two resolutions

concerning recommendations by the Public Rights of Way Access Advisory Committee

(PROWAAC) to the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board

(ATBCB). In both resolutions we demand that the ATBCB order the PROWAAC to

halt the drafting of technical guidance until final regulations have been promulgated.

In both resolutions we also urge the ATBCB to adopt the minority report filed

by the National Federation of the Blind as its final regulations. Resolution

2001-09 outlines our objections to the PROWAAC requirements for installation

of detectable warnings. Resolution 2001-13

outlines our opposition to the PROWAAC standard which would call for the installation

of accessible pedestrian signals at every intersection that has a traffic-control

device.

The

civil rights of blind people who carry a white cane or use a guide dog are

guaranteed by law. These protections include the right to use the streets,

public accommodations, and public facilities. Suzanne Whalen, President; Eugenia

Firth, Secretary; and Karla Westjohn, member, of the National Association of

Guide Dog Users, sponsored resolution 2001

17.

As the resolution states, experiments such as those being conducted by the

Guide Horse Foundation in Kittrell, North Carolina, are not only demeaning

and dangerous but could also jeopardize our civil rights.

The remaining

eight resolutions urge numerous entities to take immediate action on various

issues of concern to the organized blind. Two resolutions expand on the work

that we began during our Washington seminar on Capitol Hill last February.

In resolution 2001-02, sponsored by Jim Marks, a strong Federation leader from

Montana, we urge Congress to expand Medicare coverage to include rehabilitation

services for older blind Americans by passing the bill to be introduced by

Congressman Towns and Congressman Frost. The resolution also describes our

opposition to Congressman Capuano's bill, which treats rehabilitation of older

blind people as a medical problem to be managed by physicians, rather than

allowing these services to be "furnished or supervised by a designated

state vocational rehabilitation agency to an older blind individual under Chapter

Two of Title VII of the Rehabilitation Act."

Kristen Cox,

Assistant Director of the NFB's Department of Governmental Affairs, sponsored

resolution 2001-04. In this resolution we call upon Congress "to require

that voting technology provide for both visual and nonvisual output as a condition

for the receipt of any federal funds appropriated for the purchase of such

technology." We also urge state legislators to ensure that voting technology

is accessible to both the blind and the sighted.

Two resolutions

called for improvements in the system for funding the Vocational Rehabilitation

Program. Carlos Servan, President of the NFB of Nebraska and the Deputy Director

of the Nebraska Commission for the Blind, sponsored resolution 2001-06 to address

problems with reimbursements to state vocational rehabilitation agencies by

the Social Security Administration for services to blind beneficiaries who

become employed and leave the Social Security rolls. Current Social Security

Administration policies can result in excluding some of the state agency's

administrative costs for services. This reimbursement problem frequently occurs

when clients exercise their right to choose a service provider that is not

part of the state agency. In this resolution we call upon the Social Security

Administration and the Rehabilitation Services Administration to develop policies

and guidelines to ensure total reimbursement for vocational rehabilitation

services.

Allen Harris,

Treasurer of the National Federation of the Blind, and Mrs. Cox sponsored resolution

2001-10. In the current funding formula for vocational rehabilitation services,

Congress provided for a cost-of-living increase. In practice some states end

up losing money because of this formula. In this resolution we called upon

Congress to make sure that every state receives the cost-of-living increase.

Further, we call upon Congress "to appropriate an additional 10 percent

above the cost of living for fiscal year 2002 in order to support new and needed

vocational rehabilitation services."

Mr. Gashel

sponsored two resolutions about medical issues of concern to the blind. In

resolution 2001-07 we condemn insurance companies who refuse to sell long-term

care coverage to blind people. We intend to bring this growing form of discrimination

to the attention of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and

to the states so that they may take immediate corrective action. In resolution

2001-20 we call upon the Food

and Drug Administration to require drug manufacturers to provide tactile labels

on prescription drugs.

The remaining

two resolutions call upon various entities to work with the National Federation

of the Blind to solve access problems. A long-time leader in the Federation,

Harold Snider, introduced resolution 2001-15. In this resolution we call upon

the Federal Communications Commission, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting,

the U.S. Department of Education, and the broadcast industry "to develop

a simple and cost-effective process for voicing all health, safety, education,

and civic information printed to the television screen."

Deborah Brown,

First Vice President of the National Association of Blind Musicians, sponsored

resolution 2001-16. In this resolution we request support and assistance from

members of the music publishing industry to secure a means of expedited approval

of copyright whenever Braille transcription of musical scores is needed.

This information

is merely an introductory description of the resolutions considered and passed

by the convention. Readers should examine the complete text of each resolution

to understand fully our policy on these subjects.

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