III

107TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 358

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 1, 2002

Received and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and

Pensions

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Supporting the goals and ideals of National Better Hearing

and Speech Month, and for other purposes.

Whereas the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) reports that approximately 42,000,000 people in the United States suffer

from a speech, voice, language, or hearing impairment;

Whereas almost 28,000,000 people in the United States suffer from hearing loss;
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Whereas 1 out of every 3 people in the United States more

than 65 years of age suffers from hearing loss;

Whereas although more than 25,000,000 people in the

United States would benefit from the use of a hearing

aid, fewer than 7,000,000 people in the United States

use a hearing aid;

Whereas sounds louder than 80 decibels are considered potentially dangerous and can lead to hearing loss;

Whereas the number of young children who suffer hearing

loss as a result of environmental noise has been increasing;

Whereas every day in the United States approximately 33 babies are born with significant hearing loss;

Whereas hearing loss is the most common congenital disorder

in newborns;

Whereas a delay in diagnosing a newborn’s hearing loss can

affect the child’s social, emotional, and academic development;

Whereas the average age at which newborns with hearing loss

are diagnosed is between 12 and 25 months;

Whereas more than 1,000,000 children received speech or

language disorder services under the Individuals with

Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.) during the school year ending in 1998;

Whereas children with language impairments are 4 to 5 times

more likely than their peers to experience reading problems;

Whereas 10 percent of children entering the first grade have

moderate to severe speech disorders, including stuttering;
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Whereas stuttering affects more than 2,000,000 people in the

United States;

Whereas approximately 1,000,000 people in the United

States have aphasia, a language disorder inhibiting spoken communication that results from damage caused by

a stroke or other traumatic injury to the language centers of the brain; and

Whereas for the last 75 years May has been celebrated as

National Better Hearing and Speech Month in order to

raise awareness regarding speech, voice, language, and

hearing impairments and to provide an opportunity for

Federal, State, and local governments, members of the

private and nonprofit sectors, speech and hearing professionals, and the people of the United States to focus on

preventing, mitigating, and curing such impairments:

Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That Congress—

3 (1) supports the goals and ideals of National

4 Better Hearing and Speech Month;

5 (2) commends the 41 States that have imple6 mented routine hearing screenings for every newborn

7 before the newborn leaves the hospital;

8 (3) supports the efforts of speech and hearing

9 professionals in their efforts to improve the speech

10 and hearing development of children; and
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1 (4) encourages the people of the United States

2 to have their hearing checked regularly and to avoid

3 environmental noise that can lead to hearing loss.

Passed the House of Representatives April 30, 2002.

Attest: JEFF TRANDAHL,

Clerk.