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 SEPARATE  STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  JONATHAN  S.  ADELSTEIN 
 Re:  In  the  Matter  of  Closed  Captioning  of  Video  Programming,  Accessibility  of  Programming  Providing  Emergency  Information,  Telecommunications  for  the  Deaf,  Inc., 
 Petition  for  Rulemaking,  CG  Docket  No.  05-  231,  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking. 
 In  light  of  the  fifteenth  anniversary  of  the  Americans  with  Disabilities  Act,  now  is  the  time  to  review  whether  our  closed  captioning  rules  have  been  successful  at  achieving 
 the  important  goal  of  increasing  access  to  high  quality  video  programming  for  the  hearing-  impaired  community.  I  fully  support  this  Notice  to  seek  comment  on  the 
 adequacy  of  our  current  closed  captioning  rules  and  on  how  the  rules  can  be  made  more  effective  and  efficient. 


 Both  Congress  and  the  Commission  have  recognized  how  important  it  is  that  all  people  have  access  to  video  programming,  which  is  increasingly  affecting  how  we 
 operate  in  the  home,  at  the  office,  and  at  school.  When  closed  captioning  is  inaccurate,  unavailable,  or  unintelligible,  millions  of  hearing-  impaired  individuals  are  excluded  from 
 the  opportunity  to  participate  in  political  and  cultural  experiences  that  shape  our  identity  as  Americans.  For  example,  when  closed-  captioning  errors  prevented  many  hearing-impaired 
 viewers  from  casting  their  vote  for  Fox  television’s  program,  “American  Idol,”  these  viewers  were  prevented  from  being  a  part  of  this  cultural  event. 


 Television  is  increasingly  the  medium  relied  upon  as  the  primary  source  of  local  and  national  news,  and  a  healthy  democracy  demands  a  well-  informed  citizenry  to  make 
 reasoned  decisions  about  where  our  country  is  and  should  be  headed.  Closed-  captioning  errors,  however,  leave  millions  of  Americans  without  access  to  this  vital  information  and 
 uninformed.  The  consequences  are  even  greater  when  the  closed  captioning  is  providing  emergency  information. 


 As  we  prepare  to  review  the  current  closed  captioning  rules,  we  must  remain  committed  to  ensuring  that  video  programming  is  not  only  accessible,  but  also  high 
 quality.  I  am  therefore  pleased  that  this  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking  addresses  the  issues  of  both  technical  and  non-  technical  standards  for  closed  captioning.  I  am  also 
 pleased  that  this  Notice  seeks  comment  on  how  the  Commission  can  best  ensure  compliance.  We  provide  nothing  but  empty  promises  if  our  rules  overlook  the  critical 
 means  for  monitoring  and  enforcement. 
 The  Commission  has  already  taken  the  important  step  of  mandating  that  non-exempt  new  programming  be  captioned  as  of  January  1,  2006.  Today’s  rulemaking  takes 
 another  step  forward  toward  ensuring  that  the  hearing-  impaired  community  receives  functionally  equivalent  video  programming  services.  I  commend  my  colleagues  for  their 
 dedication  to  confronting  these  issues  that  are  so  important  for  the  deaf  and  hard  of  hearing  community,  and  I  would  like  to  thank  the  Consumer  &  Governmental  Affairs 
 Bureau  for  all  their  hard  work  on  this  matter. 
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