[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 52 (Tuesday, April 26, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S4259]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. McCAIN (for himself, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Stevens, and Mr. 
        Smith):
  S. 900. A bill to reinstate the Federal Communications Commission's 
rules for the description of video programming; to the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Television 
Information-Enhancement for the Visually Impaired (TIVI) Act of 2005. 
This bill would require television broadcasters, during at least 50 
hours of their prime time or children's programming every quarter, to 
insert verbal descriptions of actions or settings not contained in the 
normal audio track of a program. This can be accomplished through 
technology commonly referred to as ``video description services,'' 
which allows television programming to be more accessible and enjoyable 
for the visually impaired.
  This bill is necessary due to a 2002 decision by District of Columbia 
Circuit Court of Appeals. In 2000, the Federal Communications 
Commission (``FCC'' or ``Commission''), recognizing the need to make 
television programming accessible to the visually impaired, promulgated 
rules that mandated television broadcast stations and their affiliates, 
which met certain market requirements, provide 50 hours of video 
descriptions during prime time or children's programming every calendar 
quarter. Television programmers challenged the Commission's authority 
to promulgate such rules. The Circuit Court held that the Commission 
did not have authority to issue the regulations.
  This bill would provide the Commission the authority to promulgate 
such regulations and reinstate the FCC's video description rules issued 
in 2000. Additionally, the bill would require the FCC to consider 
whether it is economically and technically feasible and consistent with 
the public interest to include ``accessible information'' in its video 
description rules, which may include written information displayed on a 
screen, hazardous warnings and other emergency information, and local 
and national news bulletins.
  Since the spectrum that television broadcasters utilize is a public 
asset, one would expect that programming over the public airwaves is 
accessible to all Americans. Unfortunately, that is not the case today 
and that is why we must pass the TIVI Act. I sincerely hope that 
television broadcasters will work with us to provide video descriptions 
for individuals with visual disabilities.
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