	Background

The Randolph-Sheppard Act, originally signed into law by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936, requires that blind individuals receive priority for the operation of vending facilities on federal property. The Randolph-Sheppard Act and Military Troop Dining Facilities

		Application of the Act to Military Troop Dining Facilities

Two major circuit court cases have dealt with the issue of whether the term "cafeteria" in the Randolph-Sheppard Act applies to military troop dining facilities. Both the Fourth Circuit and the Tenth Circuit concluded that military troop dining facilities are "cafeterias" under the Randolph-Sheppard Act. NISH v. Cohen

In NISH v. Cohen , the court held that the Randolph-Sheppard Act applied to military troop dining facilities at Fort Lee in Virginia. Legislation in the 110th Congress

The Javits-Wagner-O'Day and Randolph-Sheppard Modernization Act of 2008 was introduced by Senator Enzi on June 11, 2008. This legislation would, among other things, address several issues raised by the judicial decisions previously discussed.
The Randolph-Sheppard Act requires that blind individuals receive priority for the operation of vending facilities on federal property. "Vending facilities" include automatic vending machines, cafeterias, and snack bars. This report will discuss several significant court decisions and recent legislation related to the Randolph-Sheppard Act. Two federal court of appeals decisions, NISH v. Cohen and NISH v. Rumsfeld, held that military troop dining facilities are "cafeterias" under the Randolph-Sheppard Act and that the act controlled over the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act, which provides employment opportunities for the severely disabled. Other cases have analyzed the scope of the Randolph-Sheppard Act's application to military troop dining facilities. S. 3112, which was introduced on June 11, 2008, would amend the Javits-Wagner-O'Day and Randolph-Sheppard Acts and address several issues raised by these judicial decisions.