IV 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 352 
Supporting the goals and ideals of National Better Hearing and Speech 
Month, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 15, 2008 
Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York (for herself, Mr. WALSH of New York, Mrs. 
CAPPS, and Mr. EHLERS) submitted the following concurrent resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
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 Com-
munication 
Disorders 
reports 
that 
approximately 
42,000,000 people in the United States suffer from a 
speech, voice, language, or hearing impairment; 
Whereas approximately 15 percent of, or 3,250,000, Amer-
ican adults report some degree of hearing loss; 
Whereas 1 out of every 3 people in the United States over 
60 years of age have a hearing problem; 
Whereas 1 in 6 baby boomers, aged 41 to 59 years, have a 
hearing problem; 
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•HCON 352 IH 
Whereas 1 in 14 Generation X-ers, aged 29 to 40 years, al-
ready have hearing loss; 
Whereas at least 1,400,000 children have hearing problems; 
Whereas traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been labeled the 
signature injury of the war in Iraq, with estimates as 
high as 20 percent of the number of soldiers who have 
experienced concussions while deployed; 
Whereas TBI patients may have difficulty with spoken lan-
guage, a disorder called dysarthria, if the part of the 
brain that controls speech muscles is damaged, resulting 
in slowed, slurred, and garbled speech; 
Whereas approximately 1,400,000 traumatic brain injuries 
occur annually in the United States from accidents and 
athletic injuries, with related direct and indirect medical 
costs totaling over an estimated $6,000,000,000; 
Whereas soldiers sent to battle zones are over 50 times more 
likely to suffer noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) than 
soldiers who do not deploy; 
Whereas thousands of American soldiers sent to Iraq have 
suffered from NIHL due to a lack of education about 
hearing protection, a reduced force of military audiol-
ogists, and a lack of monitoring for changes in hearing; 
Whereas although more than 32,500,000 adults in the United 
States would benefit from the use of a hearing aid, only 
1 out of 5 people who could benefit actually wear a hear-
ing aid; 
Whereas at least 12,000,000 people in the United States 
have tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, with at least 
1,000,000 who experience this condition so severely that 
it interferes with their daily activities; 
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•HCON 352 IH 
Whereas sounds louder than 80 decibels are considered po-
tentially dangerous and can lead to hearing loss; 
Whereas the number of young children who suffer hearing 
loss as a result of environmental noise has increased; 
Whereas every day, approximately 33 babies are born with 
significant hearing loss in the United States; 
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 develop-
ment; 
Whereas even mild or unilateral hearing loss left undetected 
can result in delayed speech and language acquisition, 
and inappropriate identification of behavioral problems; 
Whereas those with undetected mild or unilateral hearing loss 
are 10 times more likely to be held back at least one 
school grade; 
Whereas during the 2003 school year, more than 1,500,000 
children had speech, language, or hearing impairments, 
and received services under the Individuals with Disabil-
ities Education Act; 
Whereas children with language impairments are 4 to 5 times 
more likely than their peers to experience reading prob-
lems; 
Whereas 10 percent of children entering the first grade have 
moderate to severe speech disorders, which include stut-
tering; 
Whereas it is estimated that more than 3,000,000 Americans 
stutter; 
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•HCON 352 IH 
Whereas approximately 1,000,000 people in the United 
States have aphasia, a language disorder inhibiting spo-
ken communication that results from a stroke or other 
traumatic injury to the language centers of the brain; 
and 
Whereas for the last 80 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 provide an opportunity for 
Federal, State, and local governments, members of the 
private and nonprofit sectors, speech and hearing profes-
sionals, and all 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) urges increased coordination of community- 
based, comprehensive care for soldiers, veterans, 
athletes, and accident victims who have experienced 
traumatic brain injury; 
(3) supports the efforts of speech and hearing 
professionals in their efforts to improve the speech 
and hearing development of children; 
(4) encourages the people of the United States 
to have their hearing checked regularly and to avoid 
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•HCON 352 IH 
environmental noise that can lead to hearing loss; 
and 
(5) commends the 46 States that have imple-
mented routine hearing screenings for every newborn 
before leaving the hospital. 
Æ 
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