NAD Celebrates Passage of the 21st Century Act on Capitol Hill

On November 30, 2010, the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) joined other advocates, legislators, regulators, and industry representatives for a celebration of the passage of the Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010. The event, “Giving Thanks for Accessible Technology,” was held in the Caucus Room of the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

The Honorable Tony Coelho, Chairman of the Board, American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), was the master of ceremonies for the event. Speakers included Representative Ed Markey; Senator Mark Pryor; Julius Genachowski, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission (FCC); Steve Largent, President and CEO, CTIA-The Wireless Association; Bobbie Beth Scoggins, President, NAD; Nancy J. Bloch, Chief Executive Officer, NAD, for Benjamin J. Soukup, President and Chief Executive Officer, Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD); Melanie Brunson, Executive Director, American Council of the Blind (ACB); and Mark Richert, Director of Public Policy, American Foundation for the Blind (AFB).

Mr. Markey, who introduced and championed the legislation in the House of Representatives, recalled a “legislative day” hosted by Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc. (TDI) that happened in the same room in July 2009 where he said that the legislation would be passed by Congress before the end of 2010. On that day, advocates visited with congressional representatives to urge passage of the bill. Mr. Markey was pleased that his prediction was realized and he thanked the many advocates, legislators and staff in the House and Senate, and industry leaders who accomplished that feat. In turn, Mr. Markey was recognized and thanked by other speakers and attendees for his decades of support for accessible technology and for his years of support for passage of this comprehensive legislation.

Mr. Pryor, who introduced and championed the legislation in the Senate, noted that the legislation had received bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate.  He also thanked advocates, legislators, staff, and industry leaders for their support. During his remarks, he noted his early introduction to the accessibility challenges experienced by people who are deaf or hard of hearing through friendships he developed with members of the Nutt family while he was growing up in Arkansas. He also recalled meeting with Marlee Matlin [2] in 2009 when she visited Capitol Hill as NAD Spokesperson advocating for passage of this legislation and was touched by her story about how she was not able to access the "Wizard of Oz" on the Internet.

NAD President Scoggins thanked all of the advocates, nationwide, who contacted their congressional representatives to advocate for passage of this legislation. Their efforts, including those taken by the NAD Board and advocates during the NAD Virtual Legislative Day in April 2010 [3], contributed greatly to the successful passage of this new law.

Throughout the program, special recognition was given to the advocacy efforts of the 300+ organizational affiliates of the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT) and for the leadership of the COAT co-founding organizations and steering committee memebers: Jenifer Simpson, Senior Director, Telecommunications & Technology Policy, AAPD; Eric Bridges, Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs, ACB; Mark Richert, Director of Public Policy, AFB; Karen Peltz Strauss, Consultant, CSD (now Deputy Chief, FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau); and Rosaline Crawford, Director, Law and Advocacy Center, NAD.

The event was sponsored by COAT and coordinated by AAPD. Additional sponsors included Purple Communications and Time Warner Cable.