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[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 358 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  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;
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;
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
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) supports the goals and ideals of National Better 
        Hearing and Speech Month;
            (2) commends the 41 States that have implemented routine 
        hearing screenings for every newborn before the newborn leaves 
        the hospital;
            (3) supports the efforts of speech and hearing 
        professionals in their efforts to improve the speech and 
        hearing development of children; and
            (4) encourages the people of the United States to have 
        their hearing checked regularly and to avoid environmental 
        noise that can lead to hearing loss.

            Passed the House of Representatives April 30, 2002.

            Attest:

                                                 JEFF TRANDAHL,

                                                                 Clerk.
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