2672                                       JOINT RESOLUTIONS                           No. 42

One of the basic needs of deaf people is: television
channels, including special programs designed for deaf
audiences and regular programs which could be interpreted
or captioned.

[[Regular news programs and 10 percent of the
commercial television air time]] Consideration should be
given to the proposal that regular news programs, should
be captioned or interpreted in the Language of Signs for
deaf persons, including the captioning or interpreting of
all emergency bulletins being aired on television; now,
therefore, be it

RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, That
this Body request the State Department of Education and
television [[channel 67 to caption]] channels 67, Owings
Mill; 31, Hagerstown; 28, Salisbury; and 22, Annapolis to
consider the feasibility of captioning or interpreting
for the deaf news programs and emergency broadcasts [[and
10 percent of all commercial television air time]] where
possible; and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution be sent to
the Honorable Marvin Mandel, Governor; Dr. Neil Solomon,
Secretary of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene;
Dr. James Sensenbaugh, State Superintendent of Schools;
[[and]] Dr. Frederick Breitenfeld, Jr., Executive
Director, Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting, Owings
Mills, Maryland 21117; and television channels 67, Owings
Mill, Maryland; 31 , Hagerstown, Maryland; 28, Salisbury,
Maryland; and 22, Annapolis, Maryland.

Approved May 4, 1976.

No. 43

(House Joint Resolution No. 9)

A House Joint Resolution concerning

Deaf Persons — Television News Broadcasts

FOR the purpose of requesting Congress [[and]] to urge
the Federal [[Communications Commission to conduct a
study on the feasibility of requiring television
networks to provide either signing or captioning of
news and emergency broadcasts.]] Communications
Commission to promptly consider the adoption of rule

amendments which would make possible the

implementation of F.C.C. Docket 20693 proposed rules
for TV captioning for those with impaired hearing.

Among the major handicapping conditions, deafness is
probably the least understood. This is true, at least in
part, because of the fact that deafness strikes at one of