A bill to make technical corrections in the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 and the amendments made by that Act.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 3304) to increase the access of persons with disabilities to modern communications, and for other purposes.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by commending subcommittee Chairman Boucher for his incredible work on this issue. I also commend Chairman Waxman, who dedicated a lot of time to making sure that this piece of legislation would come to fruition here this evening. I would also like to thank Chairman Stearns--Ranking Member Stearns on the minority side--along with Mr. Barton, who is the ranking member of the full committee, Mr. Burgess, and all of the minority members.

If you were to look up in the dictionary the words ``bipartisan effort,'' this bill's number would be next to that effort.

On July 26, the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the House passed, by an overwhelming bipartisan margin of 348-23, the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act that I'd introduced last year to update the ADA for the digital era.

On August 5 the Senate passed the companion bill by unanimous consent, and then on September 22 the Senate unanimously passed the bill to make technical corrections to its companion bill. We are now taking up both of these bills, and we'll send them, after passage, to the President to be signed into law.

If you're an individual who's blind, deaf, or both, navigating an intersection can be a challenge, but navigating the Internet can sometimes be even more difficult; and that's because laws to ensure equal treatment for Americans with disabilities have focused primarily on things like wheelchair access rather than Web access. That is about to change.

At this historic moment, I'd like to think that Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan are looking down on us here tonight and smiling. This picture was taken in 1888 in Brewster, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod. Whether it is a braille reader or a broadband connection, access to technology is not a political issue--it's a participation issue. Each of us should be able to participate in the world to the fullest extent possible, and the latest communications and video devices and services can enrich and ennoble how Americans experience and enjoy their lives.

Coming out of the Energy and Commerce Committee's Telecommunications Subcommittee over the last two decades have been a whole series of legislative initiatives aimed at broadening access for Americans who are disabled to technologies that can help them do things that most of us take for granted.

In 1990, we made sure that Americans who are deaf could make telephone calls.

Around the same time, 1990, we mandated that television shows be closed captioned for the deaf so that they can enjoy the same entertainment and other programming as many Americans. Many deaf and hard-of-hearing people say that closed captioning is the single modern accessibility technology that has changed their lives the most.

And in 1996, in the Telecommunications Act, we inserted language which required accessibility of all telephone equipment, including telephones, telephone calls, call waiting, speed dialing, caller ID, and related services.

Twenty years ago, the ADA mandated physical ramps into buildings. Today, individuals with disabilities need online ramps to the Internet so that they can get to the Web from wherever they happen to be.

From the time of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan through the Americans with Disabilities Act to closed captioning for television programming and ability of the deaf to make telephone calls, and now to the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act on the floor tonight, we've made important progress. We've moved from braille to broadcast, from broadband to the BlackBerry.

Annie Sullivan used special language she spelled in Helen Keller's palm. In

the 21st century, we've moved from tracing letters of the alphabet on a palm to navigating a Palm Pilot, and we must ensure that all of these devices are accessible to the deaf and the blind in our society. That's what this legislation does here this evening.

Annie Sullivan was an incredibly dedicated and determined teacher. Now, technology needs to be the teacher, the constant companion providing instruction and access to the world and opportunities that otherwise would be out of reach. Helen Keller did learn to speak--and Helen Keller is still speaking to us tonight--about how all of us should make the most of our abilities and participate in society to the fullest, but we need the technologies to make that possible being made accessible to each American.

The bill we are considering tonight significantly increases accessibility for Americans with disabilities to the indispensable telecommunications and video technology tools of the 21st century by making getting on the Web easier through improved user interfaces for smartphones; enabling Americans who are blind to enjoy TV more fully through audible descriptions of the on-air action; making cable TV program guides and selection menus accessible to people with vision loss; providing Americans who are deaf the ability to watch new TV programs online with the captions included; mandating that remote controls have a button or similar mechanism to easily access the closed captioning on broadcast and pay TV; requiring that telecom equipment used to make calls over the Internet is compatible with hearing aids; and for low-income Americans who are deaf and blind, providing a share of the total $10 million per year of funding to purchase accessible Internet access and telecom services so these individuals can more fully participate in our society.

I thank my colleagues for their support for this landmark legislation.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on S. 3304.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

This bill has been several years in the making. It's going to have a transformative effect on the lives of the deaf and the blind in our country, and ultimately in the world, because the technologies we develop here will help all of the deaf and blind be able to use information in this wireless world that all information is now migrating to.

I want to thank Roger Sherman, Tim Powderly, Sarah Fisher, Amy Levine on the Democratic side. Neil Fried and Will Carty on the Republican side for their great work. To Colin Crowell on my staff for many years, who helped to conceptualize what it is that we are doing today. And especially to Mark Bayer on my staff, who has worked tirelessly over the last year and a half to bring this bill to fruition. Looking down I think and smiling right now on this legislation are Karen Peltz Strauss, Rosaline Crawford, Jenifer Simpson, Eric Bridges, Mark Richert, Larry Goldberg, Steve Rothstein from the Perkins School, and Mike Festa at the Carroll Center. Incredible advocates, and the conscience of this issue, why we're here. I thank all who worked on this legislation.

I urge an ``aye'' vote.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

This bill will help Americans with hearing or vision disabilities, or those who have both, allow them access to 21st century technology and prohibit the Federal Communications Commission from mandating proprietary technologies, relying instead on advisory committees and industry-developed technical standards.

The members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, on a bipartisan basis, supported this legislation when it moved through the committee and the House in July. I want to commend my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for working with the minority and with all of the stakeholders to get a consensus. Because of that work, the bill originally passed this House by a vote of 348-23.

We are now considering the Senate version in an effort to move the bill quickly to the President. Unfortunately, the version from the other body originally included a number of significant technical errors. To fix those errors, the other body passed S. 3828 to make corrections to their work.

As corrected, S. 3304, like the House bill, includes language explicitly stating that the new provisions of the law shall not be construed to require every feature and function, of every device or service, to be accessible for every disability. Furthermore, the law will create goals rather than impose technology mandates, which will allow innovation in this area to flourish. In that same spirit, it allows manufacturers and providers to rely on third-party solutions in order to achieve accessibility for people with disabilities.

However, all businesses and their products are not created equal. This bill recognizes that some small businesses and fledgling entrepreneurs may not be able to bear the financial burden of these new requirements, so there is the possibility of exemptions for small businesses. The legislation also contemplates waivers for some multifunction devices that are not primarily designed for advanced communications, as well as authorizes the Federal Communications Commission to grant waivers to address concerns of the electronics community about very small devices.

I, again, want to thank the majority for working together on this bill. I wish the rest of the legislation that has been considered in this Congress could have been dealt with in such a collaborative process.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support the bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 3828) to make technical corrections in the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 and the amendments made by that Act.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials in the Record.

I rise in support of this legislation to make corrections to the bill that the House just passed. The corrections are technical in nature, and once this bill passes, the House will send to the President landmark legislation to update our country's accessibility laws for the Internet age.

Again, I thank the minority for their cooperation on this historic legislation. It does show what good can be done when this institution works as it should. I thank my colleagues for their support.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, so with the request that this body in unison vote ``aye'' on this historic legislation, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 3828, introduced earlier today.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. Speaker, I also urge our colleagues to support the technical corrections which are necessary for the previously passed bill. I yield back the balance of my time.