Senate Passes Harkin Measure to Expand Captioning Services

SENATE PASSES HARKIN MEASURE TO EXPAND CAPTIONING SERVICES

Provision to Expand Training Opportunities for Realtime Writers

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today announced that his "Training for Realtime Writers Act of 2005" passed in the Senate last Friday. The 1996 Telecommunications Act mandates that all television programs are captioned by 2006. Harkin's legislation would establish competitive grants to educational institutions to train realtime writers in order to meet this goal.

"Although we have only a few years to go until the deadline set by the Telecom Act, our nation is facing a serious shortage of captioners," Harkin said. "This legislation is essential to ensure that we meet this important goal."

It is estimated that at least 3,000 captioners will be needed to fulfill the upcoming requirement. Unfortunately, today the United States only has 300 trained captioners, and student enrollment in programs that train realtime writers has decreased significantly.

"Realtime writers are needed in order to assist millions of deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans in taking full advantage of television programming," Harkin said.

Since 2002, Harkin has secured $2.17 million in funding for court reporting and captioning programs in Iowa. More than 28 million Americans, or eight percent of the population, are considered deaf or hard-of-hearing and require captioning services to participate in mainstream activities.

Harkin was the chief sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), landmark legislation which seeks equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for millions of Americans with physical and mental disabilities. He also authored legislation creating the National Institute on Deafness and Communication Disorders.

http://harkin.senate.gov/news.cfm?id=240249