I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5285 
To provide competitive grants for training court reporters and closed 
captioners to meet requirements for realtime writers under the Commu-
nications Act of 1934, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 3, 2019 
Mr. KIND (for himself and Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To provide competitive grants for training court reporters 
and closed captioners to meet requirements for realtime 
writers under the Communications Act of 1934, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Training for Realtime 
Writers Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
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(1) As directed by Congress in section 713 of 
the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 613), 
as added by section 305 of the Telecommunications 
Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–104; 110 Stat. 126), 
the Federal Communications Commission began en-
forcing rules requiring full closed captioning of most 
English television programming on January 1, 2006. 
(2) The Federal Communications Commission 
rules also require that video programming be fully 
captioned in Spanish by 2010. 
(3) More than 37,500,000 Americans are con-
sidered deaf or hard of hearing, and many require 
captioning services to participate in mainstream ac-
tivities. 
(4) The National Institute on Deafness and 
other Communication Disorders estimates that one 
in 3 Americans over the age of 60 has already expe-
rienced hearing loss. The 79,000,000 Americans who 
are identified as ‘‘baby boomers’’ represent 39 per-
cent of the population of the United States and most 
baby boomers began to reach age 60 just in the last 
few years. 
(5) Closed captioning is a continuous source of 
emergency information for people in mass transit 
and other congregate settings. 
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(6) Empirical research studies since 1988 dem-
onstrate that captions improve the performance of 
individuals learning to read English. 
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF GRANT PROGRAM TO PRO-
MOTE TRAINING AND JOB PLACEMENT OF 
REALTIME WRITERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education shall 
make competitive grants to eligible entities under sub-
section (b) to promote training and placement of individ-
uals, including individuals who have completed a court re-
porting training program, as realtime writers in order to 
meet the requirements for closed captioning of video pro-
gramming set forth in section 713 of the Communications 
Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 613) and the rules prescribed 
thereunder. 
(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—For purposes of this Act, 
an eligible entity is a court reporting program that— 
(1) can document and demonstrate to the Sec-
retary of Education that it meets minimum stand-
ards of educational and financial accountability, with 
a curriculum capable of training realtime writers 
qualified to provide captioning services; 
(2) is accredited by an accrediting agency or as-
sociation recognized by the Secretary of Education 
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under section 496 of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099b); and 
(3) is participating in programs under title IV 
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1070 et seq.). 
(c) PRIORITY IN GRANTS.—In determining whether 
to make grants under this section, the Secretary of Edu-
cation shall give a priority to eligible entities that, as de-
termined by the Secretary— 
(1) possess the most substantial capability to 
increase their capacity to train realtime writers; 
(2) demonstrate the most promising collabora-
tion with local educational institutions, businesses, 
labor organizations, or other community groups hav-
ing the potential to train or provide job placement 
assistance to realtime writers; or 
(3) propose the most promising and innovative 
approaches for initiating or expanding training or 
job placement assistance efforts with respect to 
realtime writers. 
(d) DURATION OF GRANT.—A grant under this sec-
tion shall be for a period of 5 years. 
(e) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of 
a grant provided under subsection (a) to an entity eligible 
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may not exceed $1,500,000 for the 5-year period of the 
grant under subsection (d). 
SEC. 4. APPLICATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—To receive a grant under section 
3, an eligible entity shall submit an application to the Sec-
retary of Education at such time and in such manner as 
the Secretary may require. The application shall contain 
the information set forth under subsection (b). 
(b) INFORMATION.—Information in the application of 
an eligible entity under subsection (a) for a grant under 
section 3 shall include the following: 
(1) A description of the training and assistance 
to be funded using the grant amount, including how 
such training and assistance will increase the num-
ber of realtime writers. 
(2) A description of performance measures to 
be utilized to evaluate the progress of individuals re-
ceiving such training and assistance in matters relat-
ing to enrollment, completion of training, and job 
placement and retention. 
(3) A description of the manner in which the el-
igible entity will ensure that recipients of scholar-
ships, if any, funded by the grant will be employed 
and retained as realtime writers. 
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(4) A description of the manner in which the el-
igible entity intends to continue providing the train-
ing and assistance to be funded by the grant after 
the end of the grant period, including any partner-
ships or arrangements established for that purpose. 
(5) A description of how the eligible entity will 
work with local workforce investment boards to en-
sure that training and assistance to be funded with 
the grant will further local workforce goals, includ-
ing the creation of educational opportunities for in-
dividuals who are from economically disadvantaged 
backgrounds or are displaced workers. 
(6) Additional information, if any, of the eligi-
bility of the eligible entity for priority in the making 
of grants under section 3(c). 
(7) Such other information as the Secretary 
may require. 
SEC. 5. USE OF FUNDS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity receiving a 
grant under section 3 shall use the grant amount for pur-
poses relating to the recruitment, training and assistance, 
and job placement of individuals, including individuals 
who have completed a court reporting training program, 
as realtime writers, including— 
(1) recruitment; 
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