However, in 1938 President Roosevelt signed the Wagner-O'Day Act which directed the government to purchase products manufactured by blind Americans. In 1971, Senator Jacob Javits introduced legislation known as the Javits–Wagner–O'Day Act, extending the act to severely handicapped individuals. For a long time, The Chicago Lighthouse was a dominant player in the wall clock business. Today, not every government buyer is aware of The Chicago Lighthouse's favored status as a manufacturer, because the government more than a decade ago decentralized buying and encouraged individual departments to seek bargains.