[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2918 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2918

    To provide access to newspapers for blind or other persons with 
                             disabilities.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 19, 2006

  Mr. Dodd (for himself and Mr. Lott) introduced the following bill; 
    which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and 
                             Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To provide access to newspapers for blind or other persons with 
                             disabilities.

    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 ``Free Newspaper Access for Blind and 
Other Persons with Disabilities Act''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAM.

    (a) Program Authorized.--
            (1) In general.--The Librarian of Congress is authorized, 
        subject to the availability of appropriations, to pay 
        telecommunications costs for blind and other persons with 
        disabilities to have interstate free access to electronic 
        editions of periodicals and newspapers, disseminated in 
        specialized audio and electronic text formats and available 
        contemporaneously with their print editions, from a multi-State 
        nonprofit source described in paragraph (2).
            (2) Multi-state nonprofit source.--The multi-State 
        nonprofit source referred to in paragraph (1) shall be an 
        entity that obtains content from publishers for free 
        distribution of 1 or more periodicals or newspapers to blind 
        and other persons with disabilities in each State in which 
        eligible persons receive books and other publications supplied 
        by the Librarian of Congress under the Act entitled ``An Act to 
        provide books for the adult blind'', approved March 3, 1931 (2 
        U.S.C. 135a).
    (b) Definition of Blind and Other Persons With Disabilities.--In 
this section, the term ``blind and other persons with disabilities'' 
means individuals who are eligible or who may qualify, in accordance 
with the Act entitled ``An Act to provide books for the adult blind'', 
approved March 3, 1931 (2 U.S.C. 135a), to receive books and other 
publications produced in specialized formats.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the Library of Congress 
to carry out this Act $750,000 for fiscal year 2007 and such sums as 
may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2011.
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