On April 24, NCRA CEO & Executive Director Jim Cudahy, CAE, submitted written testimony to the Senate Appropriations Committee for a hearing regarding the importance of federal investment to help innovate the American private sector. NCRA’s statement focused on the importance of the Training for Realtime Writers grants that are funded annually to approximately four court reporting programs. These grants have allowed court reporting programs to effectively modernize their educational approaches and provide technology that has led to the tremendous growth of the broadcast and CART captioning professions. Cudahy explained:
“Government investment in court reporting through these Training for Realtime Writers grants has resulted in the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicting a 10 percent growth in court reporting, CART captioning, and broadcast captioning over the next 10 years … However, should the federal government stop investing in such industries, much technological innovation will slow or simply cease to exist. For court reporting in particular, students may lose access to the latest equipment, software, and other advanced technologies to ensure that they can meet the demands of an increasingly complex twenty-first century marketplace.”
NCRA was one of approximately one hundred organizations that submitted written testimony for the hearing, Driving Innovation through Federal Investments. To view Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski’s opening statement, as well as other organizations’ written and oral testimonies, visit the Senate Appropriations Committee home page.
Contact NCRA’s government relations department with any questions.
