NAD Honors Congressman James Walsh

The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) will honor Congressman James Walsh (R-NY) on September 1, 2004 with a Jefferson Cup Award in recognition of his tireless efforts to establish statewide programs to identify hearing loss in newborns and infants. The Jefferson Cup was a favorite of the late Justin Dart, the "Father of the ADA," which symbolizes his "Lead on!" message to disability rights activists.

The event, planned by American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the NAD and other national organizational sponsors, will take place at the Time-Warner building at Columbus Circle in New York City. Timed in celebration of the 14th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, it will include a special "Salute to Leaders" held in conjunction with the beginning of the Democratic and Republic National Conventions held in the same cities. The NAD honored Senator Edward Kennedy on July 26, 2004 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Walsh, a founding member of the Congressional Hearing Health Caucus, was the author and primary sponsor of federal legislation creating the Newborn and Infant Screening and Intervention Program in 1999. The bill created a program through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to assist states in establishing programs to detect and diagnose hearing loss in every newborn child and to promote appropriate treatment and intervention for deaf and hard of hearing children.

The NAD took a leadership role with medical, audiology, education and advocacy organizations to ensure support for the "Walsh Bill," as it was commonly known. With the program's creation, states that voluntarily implement statewide programs are eligible to tap into federal resources to support their operations. Through his seniority on the House Appropriations Committee, Walsh successfully secured increased funding for the nationwide program during each year of its existence.

"Congressman Walsh has been at the forefront on ensuring that deaf and hard of hearing infants and their families receive appropriate communication, language, medical evaluation and training services," said Nancy J. Bloch, NAD Chief Executive Officer. "We are pleased to be able to present this award to Congressman Walsh -- and look forward to many more years of working with him and his office."

Between 1989 and 1990 when Walsh began work in Congress to create the program, only three percent of all babies in the United States were being screened, and there were only three hospital-based screening programs in the entire country. Since the program's inception, approximately sixty-six percent of all newborns are now being screened through programs in approximately 2,250 hospitals in 56 states and U.S. territories.