HLAA to testify before the US House of Representatives

Hearing Loss Association of America is pleased to announce we have been invited to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet http://tinyurl.com/2cnfy3x.

The Subcommittee will hold a hearing on H.R. 3101, the "The Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009." Scheduled for Thursday, June 10, 2010 at 10:00 a.m., in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building, this hearing will be accessible via real-time captions, assistive listening devices and ASL interpreters. HLAA encourages all those interested in and who support H.R. 3101 to attend this historic event, which follows on the heels of the successful Senate hearing May 26. See HLAA’s Advocacy Blog for May 21, 2010 for the story on Senate hearing. http://hlaa-advocacy.blogspot.com

Representative Ed Markey (MA), http://markey.house.gov who introduced H.R. 3101, testified at that Senate hearing, saying, "Americans with disabilities should have access to the communications technologies of 21st century, and delays are unacceptable. . . . There is no better way to honor the 20th anniversary of the ADA than to move this bill forward."

Expected to testify before the House Subcommittee are Lise Hamlin, Director of Public Policy, Hearing Loss Association of America, http://www.hearingloss.org and Sergeant Major Jesse Acosta, http://www.911helpamerica.com/text/board/jesseAcosta.shtml a U.S. Army veteran who became blind while serving in Iraq in 2006. Other witnesses are expected, such as representatives from the various industries, i.e., wireless, information technology, telephone, and television, who will have to make their products & services more accessible to and usable by people with disabilities if the bill is enacted.

A complete list of witnesses, instructions to view a live captioned webcast of the hearing, and other information will be provided soon on the Committee website. http://tinyurl.com/2cnfy3x

This is the second hearing by this U.S.House of Representatives Subcommittee on 21st century communications access for people with disabilities. Issues raised will surely echo those raised at the previous hearing on May 1, 2008, which lead to H.R. 6320, the predecessor of H.R. 3101. Read COAT story on 2008 hearing http://www.coataccess.org/node/58

HLAA has been working hand in hand with COAT, the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology, supporting this important legislation. Many HLAA affiliates in the states are also active members of COAT. To learn more about COAT, or become a member, visit http://www.coataccess.org

HLAA is very encouraged to see these hearings held in both chambers of Congress. HLAA would be thrilled to see enactment of comprehensive disability communications legislation happen this year, the year of the 20th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).