Introduction of S. 3211 - Senator Harkin's Digital Divide Initiative

Bill Summary

Technology for All Americans Act

The Technology for All Americans Act is being introduced in recognition of
the central role that technology will play in all Americans' lives, and
particularly those of people with disabilities, in the new millennium.
Although people with disabilities are nearly twice as likely as people
without disabilities to say that the Internet has improved their lives
significantly, they are barely one-quarter as likely to use the Internet and
less than half as likely to have access to a computer at home.  

The Act will help close the Digital Divide by establishing incentives for
public and private researchers to develop technology that is independently
usable by people with disabilities, promoting public access to the Internet
and other technology through libraries and academic and professional
training, and ensuring that technology is integrated into children with
disabilities' education and transition from school to work. 

The bill provides for four grant programs (through the Department of
Education -- the bill authorizes "such sums" for fiscal years 2001-2005): 

To increase research and development on accessible and assistive
technologies, the bill will establish: 

  Competitive grants for public and private research and development of
  assistive technology and other accessible technology, including universal
  design technology; 

To increase public access to technology, the bill will establish: 

  Grants to States to make technology used by public libraries, including
  those in public elementary and secondary schools, accessible.  

  Grants to colleges and universities to incorporate concepts of the design
  and use of assistive technology and other accessible technology into
  academic and professional programs.  

To ensure children with disabilities full access to technology, the bill will
establish: 

  Grants to state education agencies for demonstration projects with other
  agencies and local schools to develop model programs for integration of
  technology into all aspects of children with disabilities' lives, including
  transition from school to work.  

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Statements on Introduced Bills aand Joint Resolutions (Senate - October 17,
2000) 

The Technology for All Americans Act 

Mr. HARKIN: Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Technology for All
Americans Act. This Act will maximize our country's potential by helping to
close the Digital Divide for people with disabilities. In doing so, it will
increase their independence and self-sufficiency and further strengthen our
economy and society by enabling the greatest possible number of us to
contribute our abilities. 

As we celebrate the Americans with Disabilities Act's 10th Anniversary, we
are entering a new millennium; one that will be defined by technology. But
technology can be a double-edged sword for people with disabilities, who
continue to fight for the freedom to live independently. 

If the Internet and other technologies are accessible, they will offer people
with disabilities unprecedented opportunities for independence and
self-sufficiency. But if they are not accessible, they simply will create new
barriers to full participation of people with disabilities in our society and
our economy. 

Although new technologies have improved the lives of many Americans with
disabilities, there remains a significant `Digital Divide' between Americans
with and without disabilities. Although people with disabilities are nearly
twice as likely as people without disabilities to say that the Internet has
improved their lives significantly, they are barely one-quarter as likely to
use the Internet and less than half as likely to have access to a computer at
home. 

The Technology for All Americans Act will begin to bridge this gap. 

The Act provides incentives for public and private researchers to use
universal design and accessibility principles in new technologies, and to
develop technologies to eliminate functional barriers to full independence
for people with disabilities. It will increase public access to technology by
providing grants to States to make public libraries, including those in
elementary and secondary schools, technology accessible. It will increase the
development and use of accessible technology by providing grants to colleges
and universities to establish model curricula incorporating the design and
use of accessible technology into academic and professional programs. And it
will help children with disabilities maximize their potential in school and
after graduation by ensuring their access to technology. In a nutshell, this
Act will help ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity
to participate in society. 

But, this act is not just for people with disabilities. It is, as it's name
says, for all Americans . When people with disabilities succeed in school,
join the workforce, and participate in day-to-day life, we all benefit from
their abilities. 

History also demonstrates that research on accessible technology benefits
everyone. How many people know that the typewriter was invented for an
Italian countess who was blind? In 1990, the Television Decoder Circuitry
Act, which I introduced, required closed captioning for most television sets
so that people who are deaf could watch TV. But today millions of people who
are not deaf use closed captioning at home, at work, at gyms, and at sports
bars, to name a few. And, millions of people use voice-activated technology
at work or in car phones and cell phones. That technology also was intended
primarily for people with disabilities. 

This trend will accelerate as the Technology Revolution moves forward. The
technologies that make things accessible for people with disabilities have
applications for all of us. 

More and more each day, every American's ability to participate in society is
determined by how well they are able to use technology. 

This Act will help us take the greatest advantage of technology for the
benefit of the greatest number of Americans. This must be one of our
priorities as we move into the new millennium. 

So I ask my colleagues, people with disabilities, educators, technology
experts, and others who are interested to share their ideas with me about
this bill and about the issue of making technology accessible to every
American, so that next Congress we can ensure that every American has access
to the tools that will shape our future. 

