The Honorable Jack Reed, Chair
United States Senate
Committee on Armed Services
728 Heart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Roger Wicker, Ranking Member
United States Senate
Committee on Armed Services
425 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Mike Rogers, Chair
United States House of Representatives
Committee on Armed Services
2469 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Adam Smith, Ranking Member
United States House of Representatives
Committee on Armed Services
2264 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
RE: United States AbilityOne Commission Amendment in the National Defense Authorization Act
Dear Chair Reed, Chair Rogers, Ranking Member Wicker, and Ranking Member Smith:
The National Federation of the Blind, the transformative membership and advocacy organization of blind Americans, opposes the AbilityOne one percent utilization goal amendment for the National Defense Authorization Act because the amendment would unintentionally disrupt the current AbilityOne modernization efforts. The modernization efforts are intended to improve outcomes for blind and disabled employees, nonprofit agencies, and government agencies that rely on the procurement list.
We encourage you to support the existing successful efforts of the United States AbilityOne Commission, in collaboration with the National Federation of the Blind, disability advocates, and community stakeholders to modernize the existing AbilityOne program.
We applaud the AbilityOne commissioners’ success in the modernization effort, which, has introduced the prohibition of any of the qualified nonprofit agencies from using discriminatory 14(c) certificates to pay blind and disabled employees less than minimum wage on AbilityOne contracts. Going forward, the AbilityOne commission aims to enhance quality of employment opportunities, career advancement, calculating blind and severely disabled supervisors in the direct labor ratio, accountability, oversight, improving performance standards, technology integration, outreach, data collection, and compliance standards.
The AbilityOne Commission is in the midst of a substantial overhaul of the AbilityOne program, moving at a healthy pace and working in collaboration with stakeholders, so the timing of this amendment to reallocate budget resources is out of step with the future needs of this program.
We encourage you to set aside this amendment at this time and to support the current AbilityOne modernization efforts, which will surely help the AbilityOne program to grow in a healthy and competitive direction. Once the program has been modernized, you can feel confident that we will support innovative mechanisms to build the resources dedicated to America’s investment in employing the talent of its blind citizens.
Sincerely,
Mark A. Riccobono, President
National Federation of the Blind