Todd Tiahrt: “Mr. Speaker, last summer, one of my constituents, Randy Cabral, president of the Kansas Braille Transcript Institute…”

“Mr. Speaker, last summer, one of my constituents, Randy Cabral, president of the Kansas Braille Transcript Institute, e-mailed me with an idea, to place an American Braille flag at Arlington National Cemetery. Today, we see the fruition of one man's idea. Prior to the creation of the American Braille flag, the American flag was not accessible to the blind. This flag was created by the Kansas Braille Transcript Institute in Wichita, Kansas. As you can see on this poster to my left, the flag has been specially designed in a way that informs the blind of the full color of the American flag, the 13 stripes and the 50 stars on a blue field. Additionally, this tactile flag bears the Pledge of Allegiance, both in raised print and in grade one Braille. Few know that our Nation has more than 1 million blind and low-vision veterans, and those numbers continue to rise. The Department of Defense estimates that 16 percent of those injured in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom suffer from severe vision loss. An additional 10 to 12 million Americans are blind or of low vision. The American Braille Flag Memorial Act authorizes the placement of an American Braille flag at Arlington National Cemetery, a national place of remembrance and honor for our Nation's veterans.”