[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2527 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2527

 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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 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.
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