National Museum of the Blind People’s Movement Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6467 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6467

 To designate the Museum of the Blind People's Movement in Baltimore, 
  Maryland, as the ``National Museum of the Blind People's Movement''.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 4, 2025

    Mr. Mfume (for himself, Ms. Simon, Ms. Elfreth, and Ms. Norton) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To designate the Museum of the Blind People's Movement in Baltimore, 
  Maryland, as the ``National Museum of the Blind People's Movement''.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Museum of the Blind 
People's Movement Act''.

SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE BLIND PEOPLE'S MOVEMENT.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Equal treatment under the law and equal access to all 
        the rights, privileges, and protections of the Constitution are 
        core tenets of the philosophy of the United States of America.
            (2) Those noble and lofty ideals have not always been met 
        throughout the course of this country's shared national history 
        and its movement toward a more perfect Union.
            (3) People with disabilities have faced unique challenges 
        pertaining to accessibility and civil rights.
            (4) Blind individuals have experienced systemic 
        discrimination and low expectations but, despite these 
        barriers, have historically made significant contributions to 
        society which have often gone underrecognized.
            (5) Blind people self-organized on a national basis in 1940 
        to establish the National Federation of the Blind which has 
        served as a vehicle for collective action by the blind 
        themselves to raise expectations in society.
            (6) The National Federation of the Blind has served as the 
        model and inspiration for the development of blind-led 
        organizations the world over and sparked the creation of the 
        International Federation of the Blind which later became part 
        of the World Blind Union.
            (7) Throughout the course of its eight-decade crusade to 
        ensure the full integration of the blind into society on the 
        basis of equality, the National Federation of the Blind has 
        acquired innumerable artifacts, documents, and literature 
        detailing the individual and collective accomplishments and 
        struggles of blind people and how those individuals have 
        contributed to the broader American society.
            (8) The United States has no cultural institution that 
        centers the experience of blind people and elevates the 
        understanding of how those individuals have worked together to 
        improve society and to change the negative misconceptions about 
        the blind in the Nation and around the world.
            (9) The National Federation of the Blind has chosen to 
        commit to the collection, preservation, and curation of this 
        history through the Museum of the Blind People's Movement 
        located inside the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan 
        Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.
            (10) This will be the first museum owned and operated by 
        the blind of America.
            (11) The museum, as well as the existing archive which is 
        currently available to researchers, will serve as a national 
        platform to explore the struggles and successes of the blind as 
        individuals, as collectives, and as a movement, and to 
        encourage understanding of the past, and facilitate awareness 
        and evoke dialogue in the present, while inspiring respect, 
        determination, and action for an equitable future.
    (b) Designation.--The museum known as the Museum of the Blind 
People's Movement, located at 200 East Wells Street in Baltimore, 
Maryland, is designated as the ``National Museum of the Blind People's 
Movement''.
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