109TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 268

AN ACT

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.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Training for Realtime

5 Writers Act of 2005’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress makes the following findings:

3 (1) As directed by Congress in section 713 of

4 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 613),

5 as added by section 305 of the Telecommunications

6 Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–104; 110 Stat. 126),

7 the Federal Communications Commission adopted

8 rules requiring closed captioning of most television

9 programming, which gradually require new video

10 programming to be fully captioned in English by

11 2006 and Spanish by 2010.

12 (2) More than 28,000,000 Americans, or 8 per13 cent of the population, are considered deaf or hard

14 of hearing, and many require captioning services to

15 participate in mainstream activities.

16 (3) More than 24,000 children are born in the

17 United States each year with some form of hearing

18 loss.

19 (4) According to the Department of Health and

20 Human Services and a study done by the National

21 Council on Aging—

22 (A) 25 percent of Americans over 65 years

23 old are hearing impaired;

24 (B) 33 percent of Americans over 70 years

25 old are hearing impaired; and
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1 (C) 41 percent of Americans over 75 years

2 old are hearing impaired.

3 (5) The National Council on Aging study also

4 found that depression in older adults may be directly

5 related to hearing loss and disconnection with the

6 spoken word.

7 (6) Empirical research demonstrates that cap8 tions improve the performance of individuals learn9 ing to read English and, according to numerous

10 Federal agency statistics, could benefit—

11 (A) 3,700,000 remedial readers;

12 (B) 12,000,000 young children learning to

13 read;

14 (C) 27,000,000 illiterate adults; and

15 (D) 30,000,000 people for whom English

16 is a second language.

17 (7) Over the past decade, student enrollment in

18 programs that train realtime writers and closed

19 captioners has decreased by 50 percent, even though

20 job placement upon graduation is 100 percent.

21 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF GRANT PROGRAM TO PRO22 MOTE TRAINING AND JOB PLACEMENT OF

23 REALTIME WRITERS.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce shall

25 make competitive grants to eligible entities under sub-
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1 section (b) to promote training and placement of individ2 uals, including individuals who have completed a court re3 porting training program, as realtime writers in order to

4 meet the requirements for closed captioning of video pro5 gramming set forth in section 713 of the Communications

6 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 613) and the rules prescribed

7 thereunder.

8 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—For purposes of this Act,

9 an eligible entity is a court reporting program that—

10 (1) can document and demonstrate to the Sec11 retary of Commerce that it meets minimum stand12 ards of educational and financial accountability, with

13 a curriculum capable of training realtime writers

14 qualified to provide captioning services;

15 (2) is accredited by an accrediting agency rec16 ognized by the Department of Education; and

17 (3) is participating in student aid programs

18 under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965.

19 (c) PRIORITY IN GRANTS.—In determining whether

20 to make grants under this section, the Secretary of Com21 merce shall give a priority to eligible entities that, as de22 termined by the Secretary of Commerce—

23 (1) possess the most substantial capability to

24 increase their capacity to train realtime writers;
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1 (2) demonstrate the most promising collabora2 tion with local educational institutions, businesses,

3 labor organizations, or other community groups hav4 ing the potential to train or provide job placement

5 assistance to realtime writers; or

6 (3) propose the most promising and innovative

7 approaches for initiating or expanding training and

8 job placement assistance efforts with respect to

9 realtime writers.

10 (d) DURATION OF GRANT.—A grant under this sec11 tion shall be for a period of two years.

12 (e) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of

13 a grant provided under subsection (a) to an entity eligible

14 may not exceed $1,500,000 for the two-year period of the

15 grant under subsection (d).

16 SEC. 4. APPLICATION.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—To receive a grant under section

18 3, an eligible entity shall submit an application to the Sec19 retary of Commerce at such time and in such manner as

20 the Secretary may require. The application shall contain

21 the information set forth under subsection (b).

22 (b) INFORMATION.—Information in the application of

23 an eligible entity under subsection (a) for a grant under

24 section 3 shall include the following:
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1 (1) A description of the training and assistance

2 to be funded using the grant amount, including how

3 such training and assistance will increase the num4 ber of realtime writers.

5 (2) A description of performance measures to

6 be utilized to evaluate the progress of individuals re7 ceiving such training and assistance in matters relat8 ing to enrollment, completion of training, and job

9 placement and retention.

10 (3) A description of the manner in which the el11 igible entity will ensure that recipients of scholar12 ships, if any, funded by the grant will be employed

13 and retained as realtime writers.

14 (4) A description of the manner in which the el15 igible entity intends to continue providing the train16 ing and assistance to be funded by the grant after

17 the end of the grant period, including any partner18 ships or arrangements established for that purpose.

19 (5) A description of how the eligible entity will

20 work with local workforce investment boards to en21 sure that training and assistance to be funded with

22 the grant will further local workforce goals, includ23 ing the creation of educational opportunities for in24 dividuals who are from economically disadvantaged

25 backgrounds or are displaced workers.
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1 (6) Additional information, if any, of the eligi2 bility of the eligible entity for priority in the making

3 of grants under section 3(c).

4 (7) Such other information as the Administra5 tion may require.

6 SEC. 5. USE OF FUNDS.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity receiving a

8 grant under section 3 shall use the grant amount for pur9 poses relating to the recruitment, training and assistance,

10 and job placement of individuals, including individuals

11 who have completed a court reporting training program,

12 as realtime writers, including—

13 (1) recruitment;

14 (2) subject to subsection (b), the provision of

15 scholarships;

16 (3) distance learning;

17 (4) further develop and implement both English

18 and Spanish curriculum to more effectively train

19 realtime writing skills, and education in the knowl20 edge necessary for the delivery of high-quality closed

21 captioning services;

22 (5) mentor students to ensure successful com23 pletion of the realtime training and provide assist24 ance in job placement;
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1 (6) encourage individuals with disabilities to

2 pursue a career in realtime writing; and

3 (7) the employment and payment of personnel

4 for such purposes.

5 (b) SCHOLARSHIPS.—

6 (1) AMOUNT.—The amount of a scholarship

7 under subsection (a)(2) shall be based on the

8 amount of need of the recipient of the scholarship

9 for financial assistance, as determined in accordance

10 with part F of title IV of the Higher Education Act

11 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087kk).

12 (2) AGREEMENT.—Each recipient of a scholar13 ship under subsection (a)(2) shall enter into an

14 agreement with the Secretary of Commerce to pro15 vide realtime writing services for a period of time (as

16 determined by the Secretary) that is appropriate (as

17 so determined) for the amount of the scholarship re18 ceived.

19 (3) COURSEWORK AND EMPLOYMENT.—The

20 Secretary shall establish requirements for

21 coursework and employment for recipients of schol22 arships under subsection (a)(2), including require23 ments for repayment of scholarship amounts in the

24 event of failure to meet such requirements for

25 coursework and employment or other material terms
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1 under subsection (b)(2). Requirements for repay2 ment of scholarship amounts shall take into account

3 the effect of economic conditions on the capacity of

4 scholarship recipients to find work as realtime writ5 ers.

6 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The recipient of a

7 grant under section 3 may not use more than 5 percent

8 of the grant amount to pay administrative costs associated

9 with activities funded by the grant. The Secretary shall

10 use no more than 5 percent of the amount available for

11 grants under this Act in any fiscal year for administrative

12 costs of the program.

13 (d) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant amounts

14 under this Act shall supplement and not supplant other

15 Federal or non-Federal funds of the grant recipient for

16 purposes of promoting the training and placement of indi17 viduals as realtime writers.

18 SEC. 6. REPORTS.

19 (a) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Each eligible entity receiv20 ing a grant under section 3 shall submit to the Secretary

21 of Commerce, at the end of each year of the grant period,

22 a report on the activities of such entity with respect to

23 the use of grant amounts during such year.

24 (b) REPORT INFORMATION.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each report of an entity for

2 a year under subsection (a) shall include a descrip3 tion of the use of grant amounts by the entity dur4 ing such year, including an assessment by the entity

5 of the effectiveness of activities carried out using

6 such funds in increasing the number of realtime

7 writers. The assessment shall utilize the performance

8 measures submitted by the entity in the application

9 for the grant under section 4(b).

10 (2) FINAL REPORT.—The final report of an en11 tity on a grant under subsection (a) shall include a

12 description of the best practices identified by the en13 tity as a result of the grant for increasing the num14 ber of individuals who are trained, employed, and re15 tained in employment as realtime writers.

16 (c) ANNUAL REVIEW.—The Inspector General of the

17 Department of Commerce shall conduct an annual review

18 of the management, efficiency, and effectiveness of the

19 grants made under this Act.

20 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

21 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec22 retary of Commerce to carry out this Act $20,000,000 for

23 each of fiscal years 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009.
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1 SEC. 8. SUNSET.

2 This Act is repealed effective October 1, 2009.

Passed the Senate July 1, 2005.

Attest:

Secretary.
109TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 268

AN ACT

To provide competitive grants for training court reposes. communications Act of 1996, and for other pur- ments for realtime writers under the Tele- porters and closed captioners to meet require-