[Dtb-talk] Letter from 87 members of congress to Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz

[David Andrews]

Congress of the United States
Washington, DC 20515

March 19,2008

The Honorable Debbie Wasserman-Schultz
Chairman
Subcommittee on Legislative Branch
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Tom Latham
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Legislative Branch
United States Senate House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Wasserman-Schultz and Ranking Member Latham:

As you determine priorities for the Fiscal Year 2009 we respectfully 
request that you fully fund an important programmatic request for the 
National Library Service to transition audio books from analog to 
digital technology. This critical funding will insure continued 
access to literary materials for the blind and visually impaired who 
rely on this technology to be able to read.

Americans who can read print have virtually limitless access to 
books, magazines, newspapers, and other reading material. For the 
blind, the primary source of reading matter is the Books for the 
Blind Program through National Library Service for the Blind and 
Physically Handicapped of the Library of Congress (NLS), Almost no 
magazines are available to the blind, except through the Library of 
Congress. They can get a few recorded books from bookstores, but they 
are often abridged readings of very few popular titles. The 
collection of recorded books produced by the National Library Service 
for the Blind and Physically Handicapped is much broader, and all of 
its titles are unabridged. The NLS Talking Book Program distributes 
books in recorded form to hundreds of thousands of blind Americans, 
but this crucial service is in jeopardy.

Currently, the Talking Book service distributes books recorded on 
analog cassette tapes recorded at half speed to prevent copyright 
infringement, but cassette technology is now obsolete. Realizing that 
the days of the cassette tape are numbered, NLS developed a plan to 
transition from analog to digital technology. A digital talking book 
player has been designed that can be used by patrons of all ages, 
abilities, and physical limitations, and digital flash cartridges 
have been developed to store the books. Just as NLS was about to put 
the digital transition plan into effect, however, Congress has 
withdrawn critically needed funds from the project, placing the 
Talking Book Program in peril. Without the restoration of full 
funding to the program, NLS will not be able to deliver digital 
Talking Books and players to its patrons in accordance with the 
schedule originally planned. The last analog cassette machine to play 
the specially formatted tapes was manufactured over a year ago, 
leaving NLS with only a very limited supply of new and refurbished 
players to serve its patrons who are still using the cassettes. Parts 
for these players are no longer available, and the machines are 
maintained primarily by volunteers. As these cassette machines reach 
the end of their useful life, and with the distribution of digital 
books and equipment slowed by the lack of funding, many NLS patrons 
will see their library service come to an abrupt halt.

The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped 
determined that it would take $76.4 million to complete the 
conversion from analog cassettes to a digital format. Their goal was 
to obtain this funding over four fiscal years, $19.1 million per 
year, in order to ensure that the conversion project was completed 
before analog cassettes became completely obsolete. In its FY 2008 
budget request the Library of Congress asked for the first of these 
$19.1 million installments to begin the digital conversion. Due to 
budget concerns the Subcommittees in both the House and Senate did 
not provide the needed funds to keep this project on the four-year 
conversion schedule established by the NLS. Both the House and Senate 
included only $12.5 million for this project, leaving $6.6 million unfunded.

We urge you to fully fund the digital Talking Book Program through 
the allocation of $19.1 million for this purpose in FY 2009, as well 
as the restoration of the $6.6 million left out of the FY 2008 
request. This appropriation of $25.7 million will allow the NLS to 
remain on course for a successful conversion to ensure that blind 
users of the Talking Book Program do not find themselves without 
access to books and magazines.

Blind people have as many reasons to read as you and I do. Some 
people use reading for recreation; some use it for education; some 
use it for employment; some use it for innovation; and some use it 
for all of these purposes. If books for the blind become even scarcer 
than they are now, blind Americans will not only be denied 
entertainment for their hours of leisure, they will be denied 
education, knowledge, and hope for the future. Please join us in 
supporting full funding for the invaluable Talking Book Program. By 
doing so, you will ensure that blind Americans can continue to be 
literate and productive members of American society.

Sincerely,

Edolphus "Ed" Towns, Member of Congress

Dennis Moore, Member of Congress

Keith Ellison, Member of Congress

Ike Skelton, Member of Congress

Gus M. Bilirakis, Member of Congress

Maurice D. Hinchey, Member of Congress

James P. Moran, Member of Congress

Susan A. Davis, Member of Congress

James L. Oberstar, Member of Congress

Rosa L DeLauro, Member of Congress

Jim McDermott, Member of Congress
Jerrold Nadler, Member of Congress

Lynn C. Woolsey, Member of Congress

Earl Blumenauer, Member of Congress

David E. Price, Member of Congress

John P. Sarbanes, Member of Congress

James P. McGovern,  Member of Congress

Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, Member of Congress

Janice D. Schakowsky, Member of Congress

David Wu, Member of Congress

Luis G. Fortuno, Member of Congress

Neil Abercrombie, Member of Congress

Edward J. Markey, Member of Congress

Bart Gordon, Member of Congress

William D. Delahunt, Member of Congress

Elijah E. Cummings, Member of Congress

Christopher P. Carney, Member of Congress

Shelley Moore Capito, Member of Congress

Stephen J. Lynch, Member of Congress

Steve Cohen, Member of Congress

Barbara Cubin, Member of Congress

Peter Welch, Member of Congress

Lois Capps, Member of Congress

John F. Tierney, Member of Congress

Timothy J. Walz, Member of Congress

Donald M. Payne, Member of Congress

Carol Shea-Porter, Member of Congress

Eddie Bernice Johnson, Member of Congress

Dennis J. Kucinich, Member of Congress

Bill Pascrell, Jr., Member of Congress

Chris Van Hollen, Member of Congress

Tammy Baldwin, Member of Congress

James R. Langevin, Member of Congress

Phil English, Member of Congress

Luis V. Gutierrez, Member of Congress

Betty |Sutton, Member of Congress

Michael E. Capuano, Member of Congress

Dale E. Kildee, Member of Congress

Bob Filner, Member of Congress

David Loebsack, Member of Congress

Diana DeGette, Member of Congress

Brian Higgins, Member of Congress

Albert R. Wynn, Member of Congress

Thomas H. Allen, Member of Congress

Michael H. Michaud, Member of Congress

Paul W. Hodes, Member of Congress

Steve Chabot, Member of Congress

G.K. Butterfield, Member of Congress

Sheila Jackson Lee, Member of Congress

Robert Wexler, Member of Congress

Linda T. Sanchez, Member of Congress

Robert J. Wittman, Member of Congress

Todd Russell Platts, Member of Congress

Collin C. Peterson, Member of Congress

Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Member of Congress

Corrine Brown,  Member of Congress

John Lewis, Member of Congress

Danny K. Davis, Member ovCongress

Nick J. Rahall, II, Member of Congress

Bruce Braley, Member of Congress

Ellen O. Tauscher, Member of Congress

John B. Larson, Member of Congress

Howard L. Berman, Member of Congress

Solomon P. Ortiz, Member of Congress

Christopher S. Murphy, Member of Congress

Michael A. Arcuri, Member of Congress

Raul M. Grijalva, Member of Congress

Shelley Berkley, Member of Congress

Jane Harman, Member of Congress

Bobby L. Rush,  Member of Congress

Carolyn McCarthy, Member of Congress

Ron Klein, Member of Congress

Richard E. Neal, Member of Congress

Jim Matheson, Member of Congress

Charles B. Rangel, Member of Congress

William J. Jefferson, Member of Congress

Jim Marshall, Member of Congress