October 1, 2025
The Hon. Roger Wicker, Chairman
Committee on Armed Services
United States Senate
426 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
The Hon. Mike Rogers, Chairman
Committee on Armed Services
United States House of Representatives
2469 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
The Hon. Jack Reed, Ranking Member
Committee on Armed Services
United States Senate
728 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
The Hon. Adam Smith, Ranking Member
Committee on Armed Services
United States House of Representatives
2264 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chairmen Wicker and Rogers, and Ranking Members Reed and Smith:
The National Federation of the Blind, the premier membership and advocacy organization of blind Americans, is deeply concerned by a recent amendment that was added to the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (NDAA) concerning the "Rule of Two."
If the NDAA is codified as it is currently written, with the amendment from Representative Van Orden to establish a set-aside preference for veteran-owned small businesses included, it will have serious and unintentional consequences for blind Americans, including blinded veterans, who are working under AbilityOne contracts. We know this because a similar reinterpretation of the “Rule of Two” as it pertained to Department of Veterans Affairs contracts in 2019 led to the loss of hundreds of jobs that provided meaningful employment for people with disabilities.
The National Federation of the Blind respects and appreciates the drive to hire more veterans, but we also believe that this initiative should not come at the expense of jobs for blind Americans, some of whom are also veterans. According to the Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey (ACS), more than 60 percent of Americans who report a visual disability are already unemployed or underemployed.
The ACS also shows that this statistic, while still far too high, has been steadily declining since 2011. The amendment that was added to the House NDAA by Representative Van Orden, though well-intentioned, places that progress in jeopardy.
The NDAA was passed by the House on September 10, but we urge you to remove the amendment from the bill before it is sent to the President’s desk. We further urge the adoption of contracting practices that recognize the complementary nature of the AbilityOne program and initiatives to hire more veterans. There is no need to raise up one of these populations at the expense of the other.
We thank you in advance for your consideration of this urgent request. If there is any assistance that the National Federation of the Blind can provide to consider ways to craft policies that achieve all goals without putting any group of Americans at a disadvantage, then we are ready and more than willing to help. We look forward to hearing back from you.
Sincerely,
Mark A. Riccobono, President
National Federation of the Blind