To provide grants for training of realtime court reporters and closed captioners to meet the requirements for closed captioning set forth in the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

July 17, 2001

Mr. KIND (for himself, Mr. ISAKSON, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mrs. BIGGERT, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. PETRI, and Mr. KLECZKA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

To provide grants for training of realtime court reporters and closed captioners to meet the requirements for closed captioning set forth in the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

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 `Training for Closed Captioners Act of 2001'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds the following:

(1) As directed by the Congress in section 723 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 613) (as added by section 305 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-104, 110 Stat. 56, 126, February 8, 1996)), the Federal Communications Commission adopted rules requiring closed captioning of most television programming, which gradually require new video programming to be fully captioned beginning in 2006.

(2) Over 28 million Americans, or 8 percent, are considered deaf or hard of hearing and many require captioning services to participate in mainstream activities.

(3) Over 24,000 children are born each year with some form of hearing loss.

(4) According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services and a study done by the National Council on Aging--

(A) 25 percent of Americans over 65 years old are hearing impaired;

(B) 33 percent of Americans over 70 years old are hearing impaired; and

(C) 41 percent of Americans over 75 years old are hearing impaired.

(5) The National Council on Aging study also found that depression in older adults may be directly related to hearing loss and disconnection with the spoken word.

(6) Over the past 5 years, student enrollment in programs that train court reporters to become closed captioners has decreased significantly, causing such programs to close on many campuses.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF GRANT PROGRAM TO PROMOTE TRAINING OF CLOSED CAPTIONERS.

(a) IN GENERAL- The Secretary of Labor shall provide grants to not more than 20 eligible entities under subsection (b), to promote training of students (including those who have completed a court reporting training program) to become realtime closed captioners, to meet the requirements set forth in section 723 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 613) and the rules prescribed thereunder.

(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES- An eligible entity shall be a court reporting program approved by the National Court Reporters Association and accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the Department of Education.

(c) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANT- The amount of a grant provided under subsection (a) to an entity eligible under subsection (b) may not exceed $1,000,000 for any fiscal year.

SEC. 4. APPLICATION.

To receive a grant under section 3, an eligible entity shall submit an application to the Secretary of Labor at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may reasonably require.

SEC. 5. USE OF FUNDS.

(a) PERMITTED USES- An eligible entity that receives a grant under this Act shall use the funds to recruit and train students (including those who have completed a court reporting training program) to become realtime closed captioners, including--

(1) recruitment costs;

(2) scholarship incentives and opportunities;

(3) payment of personnel directly related to the operation of the program;

(4) development of a distance learning aspect of the program;

(5) development of education and training programs;

(6) assistance in job placement for upcoming and recent graduates with all types of captioning employers; and

(7) encouragement of individuals with disabilities to pursue a career in realtime closed captioning.

(b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT- In carrying out the program described in subsection (a), a grant recipient shall--

(1) provide for development and tracking of performance-outcome measures for the program and the program's training providers; and

(2) prepare and submit to the Secretary such reports as the Secretary may require on best practices and successes developed by the grant recipient through the program.

(c) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS- A recipient of a grant under this Act may not use more than 5 percent of the amount of such grant to pay for administrative costs associated with the program described in subsection (a).

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2002 through 2006.

END