[Senate Report 110-138]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 291
110th Congress Report
SENATE
1st Session 110-138
======================================================================
TRAINING FOR REAL-TIME WRITERS ACT OF 2007
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
on
S. 675
July 31, 2007.--Ordered to be printed
SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
One Hundred Tenth Congress
first session
DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii, Chairman
TED STEVENS, Alaska, Vice-Chairman
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West JOHN McCAIN, Arizona
Virginia TRENT LOTT, Mississippi
JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas
BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine
BARBARA BOXER, California GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon
BILL NELSON, Florida JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada
MARIA CANTWELL, Washington JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire
FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey JIM DeMINT, South Carolina
MARK PRYOR, Arkansas DAVID VITTER, Louisiana
THOMAS CARPER, Delaware JOHN THUNE, South Dakota
CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri
AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
Margaret Cummisky, Staff Director and Chief Counsel
Lila Helms, Deputy Staff Director and Policy Director
Jean Toal Eisen, Senior Professional Staff
Christine Kurth, Republican Staff Director and General Counsel
Kenneth Nahigian, Republican Deputy Staff Director and Chief Counsel
Calendar No. 291
110th Congress Report
SENATE
1st Session 110-138
======================================================================
TRAINING FOR REAL-TIME WRITERS ACT OF 2007
_______
July 31, 2007.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Inouye, from the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 675]
The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, to
which was referred the bill (S. 675) to provide competitive
grants for training court reporters and closed captioners to
meet requirements for realtime writers under the
Telecommunications Act of 1996, and for other purposes, having
considered the same, reports favorably thereon with amendments
and recommends that the bill (as amended) do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The primary objective of this legislation is to allow
funding to be made available for the purpose of training real-
time writers qualified to provide captioning services.
BACKGROUND AND NEEDS
There are over 30 million deaf or hard-of-hearing Americans
who rely on closed captioning to get news and other vital
information. Closed captioning also opens the world to the deaf
and hard-of-hearing by allowing them to interact and
participate in civic and personal events. Further, millions of
Americans benefit from closed captioning, including remedial
readers, young children learning to read, and individuals
learning English as a second language. When Congress passed the
Telecommunications Act of 1996, it required that all video
programming distributors provide captioning for 100 percent of
non-exempt English language programming by 2006 and Spanish
language programming by 2010. In order to ensure that this
requirement is met for the over 1,700 broadcast stations and
hundreds of cable and satellite channels, the National Court
Reporters Association estimates that thousands of additional
captioners will be needed. This legislation would assist in
fulfilling this Congressional requirement.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
The Senate passed this legislation in the 107th Congress as
an amendment to the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, but was dropped in
conference. Similar measures were also approved by unanimous
consent by the Senate in both the 108th and 109th Congresses.
On February 16, 2007, Senator Harkin introduced S. 675,
``The Training for Realtime Writers Act of 2007.'' The bill has
15 cosponsors.
On April 25, 2007, the Committee held an Executive Session
at which S. 675 was considered. The bill was approved
unanimously by voice vote and was ordered reported with one
amendment offered by the Chairman to make technical
corrections.
ESTIMATED COSTS
In accordance with paragraph 11(a) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate and section 403 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee provides the
following cost estimate, prepared by the Congressional Budget
Office:
S. 675--Training for Realtime Writers Act of 2007
Summary: CBO estimates that implementing S. 675 would cost
$69 million over the next five years, assuming appropriation of
the authorized amounts. Funds would be used by the Department
of Commerce to provide grants to eligible entities to increase
the number of realtime writers available to provide closed-
captioning services for video programming. The grants would be
used by court-reporting programs for both training and job-
placement assistance.
Enacting this bill would not affect direct spending or
revenues. S. 675 contains no intergovernmental or private-
sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
(UMRA); the bill could benefit public institutions of higher
education.
Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated
budgetary impact of S. 675 is shown in the following table. For
this estimate, CBO assumes that $20 million authorized to be
appropriated for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012 will be
appropriated for each year and that outlays will follow
historical trends for similar programs. The costs of this
legislation fall within budget function 370 (commerce and
housing credit).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
By fiscal year, in millions of
dollars--
-------------------------------------
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
Authorization level............... 20 20 20 20 20
Estimated outlays................. 2 11 16 20 20
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: S. 675
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as
defined in UMRA. The bill would authorize grant funds that
could benefit public institutions of higher education. Any
costs they might incur would result from complying with
conditions of federal assistance.
Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Susan Willie; Impact
on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Elizabeth Cove; Impact
on the Private Sector: Craig Cammarata.
Estimate approved by: Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
REGULATORY IMPACT STATEMENT
In accordance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee provides the
following evaluation of the regulatory impact of the
legislation, as reported:
NUMBER OF PERSONS COVERED
The legislation would provide an authorization of
appropriations for the fiscal years 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and
2012 to enable the Secretary of Commerce to provide grants to
fund educational programs to train real-time writers. This bill
would affect all individuals who use closed-captioning
services, including more than 30 million who are deaf or hard
of hearing.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
Section 7 of this bill would authorize appropriations of
$20 million dollars for fiscal years 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011,
and 2012.
PRIVACY
This legislation would not have any adverse impact on the
personal privacy of the individuals affected.
PAPERWORK
S. 675 would require each eligible entity receiving grants
to submit to the Secretary of Commerce a report describing the
use of grant amounts and the effectiveness of activities aimed
at increasing the number of real-time writers. The bill would
also require a final report by each entity receiving grants on
best practices for increasing the number of individuals who are
trained, employed, and retained in employment as real-time
writers.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1: Short title
Section 1 states the short title of the legislation, the
``Training for Realtime Writers Act of 2007''.
Section 2: Findings
Section 2 creates Congressional findings on the need for
closed-captioning services. The findings detail the history of
the Federal Communications Commission's rules requiring closed
captioning and accompanying studies which demonstrate the
benefits received from closed captioning services.
Section 3: Authorization of grant program to promote training and job
placement of realtime writers
Section 3 would authorize the Secretary of Commerce to
provide grants to accredited educational institutions. Grants
would be for a period of two years and would not exceed $1.5
million.
Section 4: Application
Section 4 would establish criteria for grants submitted to
the Department of Commerce and an application process.
Section 5: Use of funds
Section 5 would set forth the requirements for the use of
funds for entities receiving grants. Grants would be used for
recruitment, training and assistance, and job placement for
individuals who have completed a court reporting training
program. Section 5 would impose a 5 percent cap on the amount
of grant funds that the Secretary of Commerce could spend on
administrative costs.
Section 6: Reports
Section 6 would require each entity receiving a grant to
provide a report to the Secretary of Commerce at the end of
each year of the grant period and would require an annual
review be conducted by the Inspector General of the Department
of Commerce.
Section 7: Authorization of appropriations
Section 7 would authorize $20 million for each of fiscal
years 2008 through 2012.
Section 8: Sunset
Section 8 would provide a definitive date for the end of
the program, corresponding to the last day of the fifth fiscal
year in which funds are to be appropriated.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee states that the
bill as reported would make no change to existing law.