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<DIV id=wmQuoteWrapper>From: "Elizabeth Rival" <<a href="mailto:erival@comcast.net">erival@comcast.net</a>><BR>Date: Tue, October 04, 2011 5:33 pm<BR>
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<div class=MsoNormal style="font-size:12pt;"><B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></div></DIV>
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<div class=MsoNormal style="font-size:12pt;"><B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'">CONTACT:<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></div>
<div class=MsoNormal style="font-size:12pt;"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'">Chris Danielsen<o:p></o:p></SPAN></div>
<div class=MsoNormal style="font-size:12pt;"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'">Director of Public Relations<o:p></o:p></SPAN></div>
<div class=MsoNormal style="font-size:12pt;"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'">National Federation of the Blind<o:p></o:p></SPAN></div>
<div class=MsoNormal style="font-size:12pt;"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'">(410) 659-9314, extension 2330<o:p></o:p></SPAN></div>
<div class=MsoNormal style="font-size:12pt;"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'">(410) 262-1281 (Cell)<o:p></o:p></SPAN></div>
<div class=MsoNormal style="font-size:12pt;"><A href="mailto:cdanielsen@nfb.org" target=_blank><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'">cdanielsen@nfb.org</SPAN></A><o:p></o:p></div>
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<H1 style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 3pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 12.0pt" align=center><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt">U.S. Representatives Stearns and Bishop Introduce <BR>Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act<o:p></o:p></SPAN></H1>
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<div class=MsoNormal style="font-size:12pt;"><B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'">Washington, D.C. (October 4, 2011):</SPAN></B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'"> Congressman Cliff Stearns (R-FL) and Congressman Tim Bishop</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"> </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'">(D-NY) today introduced the Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act of 2011 (H.R. 3086). The bill would phase out Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which allows employers holding special wage certificates to pay their workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></div>
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<div class=MsoNormal style="font-size:12pt;"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'">Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “The Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act is a long-overdue effort to correct an injustice written into a law meant to protect all American workers from abuse and exploitation. Workers with disabilities were excluded from the protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act because of the false belief that we cannot be as productive as Americans without disabilities. Courage and creativity are required to replace the misguided benevolence that has historically shaped policies toward people with disabilities with real opportunity for our equal employment and full participation in the workplace. We applaud Representatives Stearns and Bishop and we hope that a significant majority of their colleagues possess the courage and creativity to end over seventy years of exploitation of people with disabilities.”<o:p></o:p></SPAN></div>
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<div class=MsoNormal style="font-size:12pt;"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">“Simple fairness and decency require that workers with disabilities receive equal pay for equal work,” said Congressman Stearns. “I am asking all of my colleagues to join me in this historic effort to end wage discrimination against workers with disabilities once and for all.”</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></div>
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<div class=MsoNormal style="font-size:12pt;"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">“Ensuring that Americans with disabilities receive equal pay for equal work is more than a matter of basic fairness, it’s a long-overdue acknowledgement of the value disabled Americans contribute to our workplaces every day,” said Congressman Tim Bishop. “I hope all of my colleagues will support this bipartisan effort to correct over seventy years of injustice.”</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class=MsoNormal style="font-size:12pt;"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">For more information about the Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act and the National Federation of the Blind, please visit <A href="http://www.nfb.org/" target=_blank>www.nfb.org</A>. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></div>
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<div style="font-size:12pt;mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><BR>About the National Federation of the Blind<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></div>
<div class=MsoNormal style="font-size:12pt;"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind is the largest and most influential membership organization of blind people in the United States. The NFB improves blind people’s lives through advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs encouraging independence and self-confidence. It is the leading force in the blindness field today and the voice of the nation's blind. In January 2004 the NFB opened the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and training center in the United States for the blind led by the blind. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></div>
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