[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2068]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       INTRODUCTION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS ACCESSIBILITY ACT

  (Mr. PETRI asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, today my colleague, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. George Miller), and I are introducing the Instructional 
Materials Accessibility Act, which makes sure that blind students will 
be able to enjoy an equal opportunity to a quality education.
  It often takes months for a blind student to have the same materials 
as his or her sighted peers because of the cumbersome process needed to 
translate a textbook into Braille or other specialized format. This 
legislation will eliminate these delays by putting in place standards 
to assist States and school districts in delivering instructional 
materials to blind students.
  I would urge my colleagues to support this important bill.

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