Public Law 97–419

Joint Resolution

To authorize and request the President to designate the month of December 1982 as “National Closed-Captioned Television Month”.

Whereas the Congress has officially proclaimed 1982 as the National Year of Disabled Persons;

Whereas hearing-handicapped Americans of all ages traditionally have suffered isolation from society and too often have unwillingly ended up as burdens to society rather than participating citizens;

Whereas the recent telecommunications breakthrough of “closed captioning” now enables these people to read on the television screen what they cannot hear and thus share—for the first time in history—that wealth of information, entertainment, and language so abundantly absorbed by the general public;

Whereas the innovative service, provided through the nonprofit and tax-exempt National Captioning Institute (NCI), represents the culmination of almost ten years of technological research and development, market exploration, and cooperation between government, industry, and community;

Whereas the nationwide service which began in March 1980 on ABC, NBC, and PBS is already proving to open up new educational horizons and new avenues toward equal opportunity for this severely disadvantaged population, particularly its children and youth;

Whereas hearing-impaired citizens have personally invested over $17,000,000 to date for purchase of decoding devices;

Whereas many Members of the Congress have long been actively supporting development, implementation, and expansion of the closed-captioned television service which is the first of its kind anywhere in the world; and

Whereas President Reagan, referring to the closed captioning of his inaugural ceremonies and televised addresses to the Nation, has stated: “I feel very honored to be the first President in history to have spoken directly to people who had never before experienced this historic tradition”: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

Approved January 4, 1983.