Over the past two days the House and Senate have feverishly worked to pass H.R. 2764, The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008. This 3,565-page piece of legislation now goes to the White House for the President's signature. H.R. 2764 includes funding for 11 federal agencies for fiscal 2008. Included in this legislation is the $12.5 million funding level for the startup of the National Library Service's Digital Talking Book Program. While the funding level falls short of the $19 million originally requested by NLS, this appropriation will allow the program to begin in earnest.
Tracy Justesen has been confirmed by the Senate to become Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services at the Department of Education. As many of you know, Tracy spoke at ACB's Legislative Seminar during the convention in Minneapolis. At that point in time he was working for the Department of Justice and handling ADA guidance issues. More information regarding his appointment will be communicated when it is available.
On Nov. 19, a three-judge panel from the United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, heard oral arguments in ACB's suit against the United States Treasury Department. Presentations were made by lawyers for both the Treasury Department and ACB in defense of the positions they had previously taken in their written briefs. The judges peppered the lawyers with questions throughout the proceeding. A brief statement was also made by an attorney representing the National Federation of the Blind, who asserted that blind people already have access to United States currency and that the government has begun to take steps to make it more distinguishable by people with low vision. Therefore, access is not a problem, and besides, this issue is not that important to their membership.
As usual, Jeff Lovitky, arguing ACB's case, did an admirable job in setting forth our position that people who are blind do not currently have meaningful access to U.S. currency, that the decision of the District Court was appropriate, and that we need a court order that will result in the Treasury Department having to come up with a plan for addressing the accessibility issues surrounding paper currency.
At this point, we are engaged in another waiting game. Lovitky estimated that it could take as long as six months to get the decision from the Circuit Court. We will advise you as soon as we hear anything further on the subject.