[Nfbnet-members-list] FW: National Federation of the Blind Applauds Introduction of Legislation to Integrate Workers with Disabilities

[Kuhnke, Kristian]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Chris Danielsen
Director of Public Relations
National Federation of the Blind
(410) 659-9314, extension 2330
(410) 262-1281 (Cell)
<mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org

National Federation of the Blind Applauds Introduction of Legislation 
to Integrate Workers with Disabilities

Urges Passage of Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment Act

Baltimore, Maryland (August 6, 2015): <https://nfb.org>The National 
Federation of the Blind, the oldest and largest nationwide 
organization of blind Americans, applauds the introduction of the 
Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment (TIME) Act (S. 
2001) by Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH). Senator Ayotte introduced this 
legislation to repeal Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 
in order to incentivize the transitioning of workers with 
disabilities into integrated, meaningful employment, and to phase out 
the discriminatory practice of paying workers with disabilities 
pennies per hour. Companion legislation has already been introduced 
in the House of Representatives by Representative Gregg Harper (R-MS) 
as H.R. 188 and has forty-one cosponsors.

"My home state of New Hampshire has been a leader in supporting and 
empowering workers with disabilities, and recently became the first 
state in the country to ban discriminatory wage practices that put 
workers with disabilities at a disadvantage," Senator Ayotte said. 
"This legislation will project New Hampshire's leadership on the 
issue throughout the country, ensuring that workers with disabilities 
are treated equally and do not have to work in an environment where 
their wages and expectations are lower than those of workers without 
disabilities. Twenty-five years after enactment of the Americans with 
Disabilities Act, individuals with disabilities are now able to live 
quality lives and achieve their full potential.  Women and men with 
disabilities also deserve the opportunity to participate in the 
workforce and seek competitive, integrated, and meaningful employment 
on a level equal to their peers who do not have a disability.  I'm 
grateful to the National Federation of the Blind for their advocacy 
on this important issue and their support of my legislation."

Mark A. Riccobono, 
<http://www.facebook.com/NationalFederationoftheBlind>President of 
the National Federation of the Blind, said: "The National Federation 
of the Blind and our partners representing the fifty-five million 
Americans with disabilities know that low expectations, not 
disability, are the true barriers that prevent people with 
disabilities from living the lives we want. We applaud Senator Ayotte 
for recognizing that current segregated employment practices are 
based on over seventy years of entrenched but false thinking about 
the capacity of people with disabilities. We strongly urge her 
colleagues in both houses of the United States Congress to support 
this legislation and embrace a future in which the next generation of 
workers with disabilities, including my two young daughters, enter 
the workforce without the discriminatory presumptions that exist 
today and where these workers are able to achieve their full 
potential in the workplace and beyond."


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About the National Federation of the Blind

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the 
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise 
the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create 
obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life 
you want; blindness is not what holds you back.


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