FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
January 22, 2013
JULIUS GENACHOWSKI
CHAIRMAN
The Honorable Kenny Marchant
U.S. House of Representatives
1110 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Congressman Marchant:
Thank you for your letter regarding the reform of the Video Relay Services
program. I appreciate your interest in this matter and am pleased to provide the enclosed
letter on this issue from the Acting Chief of the FCC's Consumer and Governmental
Affairs Bureau.
If you have any additional questions or need any further assistance, please do not
hesitate to contact me.
Julius Genachowski
445 12lH STREET S.W. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20554 • 202-418-1000
Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Govemmental Affairs Bureau
VVashington,D.C.20554
January 22, 2013
Dear Representative Marchant:
Thank you for your letter regarding the Public Notice (released October IS, 2012, by the
Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau) which sought comment on the structure and
reform of the Video Relay Service (VRS) program and on the proposed reimbursement rates for
VRS. This Public Notice followed a prior set ofproposals to structurally reform and improve
VRS, issued on December IS, 20II. I share your support for VRS, which has become a critical
communications tool for many people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
In June 2010, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) began a
comprehensive review of the rates, structure, and practices of the VRS program. The
Commission's goal in beginning that review, and ever since then, has been to sustain and
improve the VRS program, which for many years had been beset by waste, fraud, and abuse and
by compensation rates that had become inflated well above actual costs. In recent years, the
Commission has taken significant steps to protect the VRS program's integrity and increase its
efficiency. These reforms are intended to ensure that the program continues to support
communication services that offer functional equivalence to all eligible users and, at the same
time, that the program is as immune as possible from the waste, fraud, and abuse that could
threaten its viability. The October 15th Public Notice is the next step in our ongoing reform
efforts.
Commission staff from the offices and bureaus involved with this rulemaking have been
in dialogue with representatives from various deaf and hard ofhearing consumer organizations.
Further, these organizations and others, along with thousands of individual consumers, have filed
public comments in response to the October 15th Public Notice. VVe have assured them, as I
assure you, that any reform undertaken by the Commission wil\ not adversely affect the service
that has proven to be valuable to deaf and hard ofhearing Americans.
The Commission is dedicated to fulfil1ing the vision of Congress for an effective and
successful nationwide telecommunications relay service, and I appreciate your continuing
interest in this very important matter. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance.
Sincerely,
&;1'f./t1~
Kris Monteith
Acting Chief
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau