Cosponsor #26 for HR 3101!

Today we learned that Representative Bob Filner (D-CA) has signed on to HR 3101! Now we have 26 cosponsors for HR 3101, all Democratic though. We STILL need a Republican.

How did Bob Filner come to sign on to HR 3101? Caption Action 2 tracks cosponsors for two other bills in Congress that also benefit deaf and hard of hearing people: the Hearing Aid Tax Credit (HR 1646) and the Medicare Hearing Health Care Enhancement Act (HR 3024). Filner recently signed on to HR 3024, so Jamie called Filner's office to speak to his legislative director about HR 3101. That call was yesterday. Today, Jamie got an email from Filner's office informing her he would be cosponsoring HR 3101 too.

If Jamie can do it, so can you. So let's hit the phones and make those calls! Send those emails as well.

Join Caption Action 2!

Join Caption Action 2 on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/groups/captionaction2!

Representative #25 Signs on to HR 3101!

Today, #25 signed on not long after #24. Caption Action 2 had email confirmation this evening from the office of Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA). The email stated that they had emailed Markey's office and asked that McGovern be added as a cosponsor of HR 3101! McGovern had been a cosponsor last year of the previous failed version of HR 3101. Welcome back, McGovern!

Caption Action 2 is discovering that phone calls work better than emails. Caption Action 2 had emailed McGovern's office in September, and again in October, but what worked was the phone call! Jamie suspects that emails often get overlooked, staffers are swamped with emails, or in some cases, the emails even get shifted into the spam folder. So hit those phones - calling your representative works!

Join Caption Action 2!

Join Caption Action 2 on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/groups/captionaction2!

Congratulations to New Jersey and Minnesota

Right after we sent out the December Caption Action 2 newsletter to Facebook members, we discovered three more representatives have signed on to HR 3101! New cosponsors for HR 3101 are:

New Jersey

Representative Steven Rothman (D-9)

Minnesota

Representative Collin Peterson (D-7)
Representative Betty McCollum (D-4)

Now we have 23 cosponsors for HR 3101 - all Democratic.

Join Caption Action 2!

Join Caption Action 2 on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/groups/captionaction2!

HR 3101 Gets Its 20th Cosponsor!

Jamie was hoping her own representative would be cosponsor #20, but Representative Emmanuel Cleaver, II (D-Missouri) beat him to it! Jamie got an email today from a legislative assistant in Cleaver's office that said simply, "Thank you for stopping by our office yesterday to bring this bill to my attention. Rep. Cleaver has signed on." That was fast. Jamie hadn't even sent a follow-up email yet. Welcome to the growing HR 3101 club, Rep. Cleaver!

Join Caption Action 2!

Join Caption Action 2 on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/groups/captionaction2!

Maine Representative Becomes 19th Cosponsor

Caption Action 2 just learned this morning that HR3101 got its 19th cosponsor!

Let's welcome from Maine, Representative Chellie Pingree (D-1)!

Thanks to the anonymous commenter in the previous post for alerting us!

Join Caption Action 2!

Join Caption Action 2 on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/groups/captionaction2!

Cosponsor 18 - Rep. Earl Blumenauer

Caption Action 2 just learned that we got our 18th HR3101 cosponsor. Let us welcome Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-3)!

We're doing good so far, but we still have a long ways to go.

Join Caption Action 2!

Join Caption Action 2 on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/groups/captionaction2!

Rep. Andre Carson Becomes Cosponsor 17!

Cosponsor number seventeen just signed on! It's Indiana Representative Andre Carson (D-7).

No Republicans yet. Please do your part if your rep is Republican.

Guam Representative Becomes Cosponsor 16!

Just when Caption Action 2 gets the word about our fifteenth cosponsor, a sixteenth comes on!

Let us welcome Guam Representative Madeleine Bordallo (D).

Now we have surpassed the total number of cosponsors for last year's failed bill! Last year's failed bill had only 15 cosponsors. This year's bill has 16 so far!

As said before, we still need Republicans.

DC Representative Becomes 15th Cosponsor!

Let us welcome District of Columbia Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) as our fifteenth HR 3101 cosponsor!

Caption Action 2 still needs Republican cosponsors. This is another reason to contact your rep if he/she is Republican. Check the blogroll for Congressional staff contacts and how to find your representative including this post on instructions on how to find and write your representative.

Cosponsor 14 Joins HR 3101!

Caption Action 2 just learned that HR 3101 got its 14th cosponsor.

Let us welcome California Representative Grace Napolitano (D-38)!

Can we get help out there in getting Republicans to join?

Two More for HR 3101! We Are Growing!

Caption Action 2 just learned tonight that two new HR3101 cosponsors joined!

Let us welcome Virginia Representative Jim Moran (D-8) and Arizona Representative Raúl Grijalva (D-7).

As mentioned before, we need Republicans to join.

HR 3101 Has Its 11th Cosponsor!

Caption Action 2 just got word from Rep. Markey's office that we have our eleventh cosponsor!

Let us welcome Representative Mike Honda (D) of California!

We need Republican cosponsors, since we have all Democratic cosponsors.

Two More Representatives Cosponsoring HR 3101!

Today Caption Action 2 was on Capitol Hill and had a meeting with Mark Bayer in Rep. Ed Markey's office. Bayer had some good news for Caption Action 2: Yesterday Representatives Maurice Hinchey (NY) and Paul Kanjorski (PA) became cosponsors of HR 3101! Now we have a total of 10 cosponsors. Still small, but starting to grow!

Representative Hinchey was a cosponsor last year. He has now rejoined us!

Bayer also told Caption Action 2 that while work continues to get support in the House, work is also being done on two other fronts: the Senate, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). He said that sometime this month a bill may be introduced in the Senate that mirrors HR 3101 in the House! Regarding the FCC, Bayer explained that the more aware the FCC is of the issues addressed by HR 3101, the better the chances of HR 3101 moving through Congress. On October 20, the FCC will have another workshop on broadband access for people with disabilities, "Broadband Accessibility for People with Disabilities: Barriers, Opportunities, and Policy Recommendations." (Details are in this PDF). Page 2 of the PDF has this question: "How often do people with hearing disabilities find that material that they would like to access on the web is uncaptioned?"

Just before Jamie left Bayer, he received a special notice from the Sergeant at Arms (don't know what that means on Capitol Hill). This notice was about the Dedication of the Statue of Helen Keller! A statue of Helen Keller, given by the people of Alabama, will be placed in the U.S. Capitol! Jamie did not know about this event. Bayer said that this is an event that will attract many members of Congress and is therefore a good opportunity to increase awareness of deaf issues. The statue dedication ceremony will take place on October 7 at 11:00 am in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol!

Today Caption Action 2 visited most if not all, of the Representatives with offices in the Longworth building. Then a mistake was made; a walk to the Ford House Office building. Turned out there are no representatives in that building! It is only for house support offices. Ugh. Back to the Rayburn building to visit a few offices that had been missed before. On the way down in the elevator heading to the Cannon building, who did Jamie run into? None other than the same woman from Representative Conyers' office! She was pleased to see Jamie again and told her she would try to get Conyers to cosponsor.

Before heading home, Jamie made one last stop; her own Representative's office, for the second time. The people in Gerry Connolly's office did remember Jamie, and gladly took an updated Caption Action 2 flyer. Connolly still has not signed on as a cosponsor for the bill, but Jamie is hopeful that between her phone calls, emails, and in-person visits to Connolly's office, that he will sign on.

All in all, a pretty productive day on the Hill. Jamie collected a ton of business cards, and will be updating the Excel spreadsheet of Congress Staff Contacts (download it from the blogroll). Staff contacts are important because it is the staff that reviews the bill, and can influence the Representative. So download the spreadsheet and see if there is a direct email contact for your own Representative's office! It is going to take a few days for Jamie to enter all the new staff contacts she collected today, so keep checking this Excel spreadsheet for updates.

Towns and Lewis Sign on to HR 3101!

Today Caption Action 2 learned that Representative Edolphus Towns (NY) has signed on! Your calls, letters, and Facebook wall messages worked! Remember when back on July 29 Caption Action 2 reported that Towns was "reportedly" interested but had not committed? Now he has committed! Congratulations to residents of Brooklyn, New York!

The other Representative who has signed on, John Lewis, hails from Atlanta, Georgia! Lewis is not on either Facebook or Twitter, so the only way you can thank him is by sending him an email through his website. According to his biography, Lewis has a strong history in civil rights.

This makes eight cosponsors so far. We need more!!!

Two More Cosponsors and Dear Colleague...!

Today Caption Action 2 learned that we now have two more cosponsors, for a total of six! Joining Representatives Barbara Lee (CA), Fortney Pete Stark (CA), Steve Israel (NY), and Linda Sanchez (CA) as cosponsors are Representatives Tim Ryan (OH), and Chris Van Hollen (MD)! Many deaf and hard of hearing people live in Maryland so this is very significant that we now have a Representative from Maryland! Last year, the previous version of the bill did not have a single co-sponsor from Maryland.

Plus, today Representative Ed Markey's office sent out its "Dear Colleague" letter to all Representatives, reproduced below!

Ensure Equal Access to the
New Technologies and Innovations of the 21^st Century

Co-Sponsor H.R. 3101, the Twenty-first Century Communications and Video
Accessibility Act

August 12, 2009

Dear Colleague:

Over the last decade, we have seen a revolution in the way Americans interact, learn and conduct business. However, the wizardry of the wires and the sophistication of software programs do little for those who cannot affordably access or effectively use them. I recently introduced H.R. 3101, the Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, to ensure that all Americans are offered equal access to these exciting and innovative new technologies.

H.R. 3101 would amend the Communications Act to ensure that new Internet-enabled telephone and video services and equipment are accessible to, and usable by, people with disabilities. The bill also closes existing gaps in telecommunications laws. From extending hearing aid compatibility and Internet closed captioning to real-time text support for emergency services, H.R. 3101 seeks to provide a smooth migration to the next-generation of Internet-based and digital communication technologies.

The guiding principle of the Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act is to bring existing federal laws requiring communications and video programming accessibility up to date, to fill in any accessibility gaps, and to ensure the full inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of daily living through accessible, affordable and usable communication and video programming technologies.H.R. 3101 would:

• Extend federal law that currently requires hearing aid compatibility (HAC) on newly manufactured and imported telephones to comparable IP-compatible equipment (CPE) used to provide Internet-enabled voice communication service.The purpose of this provision is to ensure that people with hearing loss have access to telephone devices with a built-in speaker (typically held to the ear) used with advanced technologies.


• Clarify that telecommunications relay services (TRS) are intended to ensure that people who have hearing or speech disabilities can use relay services to engage in functionally equivalent telephone communication with all other people, not just people without a hearing or speech disability


• Require advanced communications service providers and manufacturers to make their services and equipment accessible to and usable by people with disabilities unless doing so would result in an undue burden


• Add new measures to improve the accountability and enforcement of these new disability safeguards, including reporting obligations for industry and the FCC, directives for new FCC complaint procedures, and clarification of FCC penalties for non-compliance


• Direct the FCC to conduct inquiries on a variety of topics, including ways to transmit closed captioning and video description on video programming exhibited on new technologies, including Internet protocol and digital wireless services and equipment; ways to make televised emergency information accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired; and ways to make user interfaces and related on-screen menus or visual indicators on video programming apparatus used for the navigation or selection of video programming accessible.


• Expand existing closed captioning requirements to video programming apparatus of all sizes and require that such apparatus also deliver video description.


• Direct the FCC to establish a schedule of deadlines for video described programs. Those rules, originally promulgated in 2001, were struck down by a U.S. Court of Appeals for lack of FCC authority.


• Require the FCC to issue regulations for video programming providers and owners and multichannel video programming distributors to make their video programming information and selection accessible to people who are unable to read the visual display, so that these individuals can make program selections in real-time.

This bill would not be an economic burden on the industry and consumers, just as similar assertions raised against hearing aid compatibility or against the closed captioning bill I sponsored and successfully battled to make law in 1990 proved to be erroneous. In that debate, we were told that mandating closed captioning was overly burdensome and would cost a fortune. Today, that law is indispensable, and the update this new bill would provide will be equally indispensable.

Current co-sponsors of H.R. 3101 are: Barbara Lee, Linda Sanchez, Stark, Israel, Tim Ryan, Van Hollen

If you have questions or would like to co-sponsor, please have a member of your staff contact Mark Bayer on my staff at 5-2836 or mark.bayer@mail.house.gov.

Sincerely,

Edward Markey

Rep. Stark Signs on as Co-Sponsor!

Today Caption Action 2 learned that Representative Fortney Pete Stark (CA) has signed on as the fourth confirmed co-sponsor. Another representative, Edolphus Towns (NY) is reportedly interested, but we received confirmation from Capitol Hill that Towns has not committed yet. If you live in New York's 10th District, send email to Towns urging him to commit as a co-sponsor!

The 10th District covers Brooklyn - Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Heights, Brownsville, Canarsie, East New York and Ocean Hill, and part of Fort Greene and Williamsburg.

This Year's House Committee

Last year, a similar bill had 15 cosponsors. So far this year, we have only 3 cosponsors (Reps. Linda Sanchez, Barbara Lee, and Steve Israel)! Previous cosponsors who are on this year's House Committee on Energy and Commerce (the Committee that is responsible for the fate of HR3101): Rep. Lois Capps, D-CA23. Rep. Janice Schakowsky, D-IL9. So far, neither Capps nor Schakowsky have signed on as cosponsors this year. Keep writing to your Representatives!

Third CoSponsor Signs On!

Caption Action 2 just received a copy of an email sent today to a Caption Action 2 supporter by the supporter's Representative, Steve Israel, 2nd District of New York. The supporter had written to Israel at Caption Action 2's urging. The email says he has signed on as a co-sponsor of HR3101! We've got one of last year's 15 co-sponsors back! It pays to write!! Reprinted in full below ("Caption Action 2 supporter" is substituted for the person's name) is the email:

From: "Representative Steve Israel"
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:43:28 -04
To:
Subject: Message from Congressman Israel

Dear Caption Action 2 Supporter:

Thank you for contacting me in support of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. I appreciate your thoughts on this matter and welcome the opportunity respond.

You may be pleased to know that I am a co-sponsor of H.R. 3101, the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009, which was introduced by Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts on June 26, 2009. This legislation would ensure that people with disabilities have access to the newest technologies by modernizing the disability mandates in the Communications Act. H.R. 3101 would also make broadband technologies more accessible by requiring closed captioning and video descriptions on internet videos, and by ensuring that phones are hearing-aid compatible.

This bill is currently awaiting further consideration by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Please be assured I will keep your views in mind as this legislation develops.

Thank you again for contacting me. Please do not hesitate to do so again on any matter of concern. You can also visit my website (http://house.gov/israel) to learn more about the issues important to you.

Sincerely,

STEVE ISRAEL
Member of Congress

We Got TWO Cosponsors to HR3101!

Just found out today from a contact in Rep. Markey's office that we now have two cosponsors to the 21st Century Act! Here's the email we got;

Thanks very much for contacting me about H.R. 3101, which Rep. Markey just reintroduced. I've also attached it. Reps. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) have agreed to co-sponsor so far - any efforts you and your coalition can make to increase the number of co-sponsors would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to contact me.

Also today, Hana blogged about the bill.