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 Federal  Communications  Commission  FCC  03-  112 
 SEPARATE  STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  JONATHAN  S.  ADELSTEIN 


 Re:  In  the  Matter  of  Amendment  of  Telecommunications  Relay  Services  and  Speech-to-  Speech  for  Individuals  with  Hearing  and  Speech  Disabilities;  CC  Docket  No. 
 98-  67,  CG  Docket  No.  03-  123 
 I  am  an  ardent  supporter  of  universal  service.  I  wholeheartedly  believe  that  disability  rights  issues  go  hand-  in-  hand  with  universal  service  in  that  the  Commission  must  strive 
 for  universal,  or  functionally  equivalent,  access  to  all  telecommunications  products  and  services.  For  persons  with  hearing  and  speech  impairments,  the  initiatives  we  adopt 
 today  ensure  that  they  are  able  to  take  full  advantage  of  our  country’s  ever-  evolving  telecommunications  and  information  networks  by  being  able  to  communicate  through  the 
 latest  technologies. 
 Public  interest  issues,  especially  disability  rights,  always  should  remain  in  the  forefront  of  our  decisions  as  Congress  intended.  While  a  staff  member  in  the  U.  S.  Senate,  I  worked 
 on  the  Americans  with  Disabilities  Act  and  devoted  a  great  amount  of  attention  to  the  Social  Security  Disability  Insurance  program.  These  concerns  remain  central  to  me  on 
 the  Commission,  as  well. 
 Today’s  action  is  centered  upon  the  adoption  of  the  TRS  Order,  which  is  designed  to  give  persons  with  hearing  or  speech  impairments  “functionally  equivalent”  access  to  our 
 nation’s  telecommunications  network.  By  adopting  this  Order,  the  Commission  takes  yet  another  significant  step  toward  fulfilling  the  mandates  of  Title  IV  of  the  American  with 
 Disabilities  Act  (ADA).  I  fully  support  our  decision  today  to  require  additional  TRS  features  and  services  to  facilitate  and  expand  the  use  of  TRS  by  persons  with  hearing  and 
 speech  impairments. 
 I  also  welcome  our  request  for  comment  on  other  matters  related  to  TRS,  and  urge  all  stakeholders  to  comment  on  our  tentative  proposal  to  allow  TRS  facilities  to  receive  an 
 NS/  EP  priority  status.  This  is  particularly  important  since  TRS  can  be  the  only  means  of  communications  between  persons  with  hearing  and  speech  impairments  and  emergency 
 services  personnel. 
 Our  Further  Notice  also  asks  for  input  on  the  important  goal  of  improving  our  outreach  efforts  for  the  TRS  program  to  all  Americans,  an  initiative  that  I  strongly  support.  In  the 
 NPRM,  we  ask  if  we  can  require  outreach  and,  if  so,  how  best  can  we  achieve  results,  and  how  best  can  we  control  costs  by  targeting  the  use  of  the  funds. 


 I  would  like  to  thank  the  Consumer  and  Governmental  Affairs  Bureau  and  the  Disability  Rights  Office  on  a  job  well  done.  This  is  an  important  issue  to  bring  to  our  attention,  and 
 I  hope  that  additional  comprehensive  steps  will  be  taken  to  ensure  functionally  equal  access  to  the  network  that  drives  our  way  of  life. 
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