,i  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #bidg  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,april #ag1          
#bjbe,mrs4 ,mc,clain ,delaney 7for      
herself1 ,mrs4 ,cherfilus-,mc,cormick1  
,mr4 ,cohen1 ,ms4 ,crockett1 ,mr4 ,davis
 of ,north ,carolina1 ,mr4 ,doggett1    
,mr4 ,fitzpatrick1 ,mr4 ,goldman of ,new
 ,york1 ,mr4 ,fields1 ,mr4 ,lawler1 ,mr4
 ,mannion1 ,mr4 ,mc,garvey1 ,mr4        
,mullin1 ,ms4 ,norton1 ,mr4 ,takano1 and
 ,ms4 ,tlaib7 introduced the following  
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,oversight and ,government
 ,reform  ,a ,,bill  ,to require the    
,bureau of the ,census to collect       
information on deafblind individuals1   
and for other purposes4  #a4 ,short     
title2 findings  7a7 ,short title ,this 
,act may be cited as the ,deafblind     
,disabled ,americans ,table             
,approximation ,act or the ,deafblind   
,,data ,act4  7b7 ,findings ,congress   
finds the following3 7#a7 ,individuals  
who are deafblind experience concomitant

 hearing and vision loss that may       
prevent access to information1 cause    
severe communication challenges1 and    
interfere with social and emotional     
well-being4 ,in children1 deafblindness 
may impact development and educational  
attainment1 while in adults1            
deafblindness may interfere with        
employment and other areas4 ,the        
,national ,center on ,deafblindness     
estimates #aj1jjj children and #dj1jjj  
adults are deafblind1 the ,national     
,association of ,regulatory ,utility    
,commissioners estimates #gj1jjj-ajj1jjj
 people are deafblind1 and the ,helen   
,keller ,national ,center for ,deafblind
 ,youths and ,adults estimates #b4dg    
million ,americans have combined hearing
 and vision loss4  7#b7 ,it is difficult
 to determine the precise number of     
individuals who experience combined     
hearing and vision loss1 and estimates  
from various national counts offer      
radically different estimates4  7#c7 ,an
 accurate1 centralized count of all     

individuals who are deafblind in the    
,united ,states is necessary to         
effectively serve the unique needs of   
this population4 ,without a             
comprehensive national picture of this  
population1 individuals who are         
deafblind may not receive the support   
necessary to access information1        
communicate effectively1 and better     
their social and emotional well-being4  
7#d7 ,the ,bureau of the ,census        
currently does not count individuals who
 experience combined hearing and vision 
loss4 ,through the ,american ,community 
,survey1 the ,bureau does collect data  
on those who are deaf or have serious   
difficulty hearing and those who are    
blind or have serious difficulty seeing 
even when wearing glasses4 ,however1    
this data is not cross referenced to    
provide information about those who have
 both limitations4  7#e7 ,some people   
who experience combined hearing and     
vision loss identify as deafblind or as 
a part of the deafblind community4  7#f7

 ,by cross-referencing this existing    
data to establish a count of all        
respondents to the ,american ,community 
,survey who experience concomitant      
hearing and vision loss1 an estimate of 
the ,united ,states deafblind population
 may be calculated4  #b4 ,report and    
publication on deafblind individuals    
7a7 ,report ,not later than #ahj days   
after the date of the enactment of this 
,act1 the ,director of the ,bureau of   
the ,census shall submit to ,congress a 
report on the feasibility of publishing 
the table described in subsection 7b7   
and the feasibility of expanding data   
collection on individuals who experience
 combined hearing and vision loss in the
 ,american ,community ,survey 7or any   
successor survey74  7b7 ,publication of 
table  7#a7 ,in general ,beginning in   
#bjbf and each year thereafter1 the     
,director of the ,bureau of the ,census 
shall publish1 on the public website of 
the ,bureau1 a table summarizing        
respondents to the ,american ,community 

,survey 7or any successor survey7 who   
answered ,yes in such ,survey to being  
both deaf and blind4 ,the table shall   
include the following information1      
sorted by the ,state in which such      
respondent resides3 7,a7 ,the sex1 race1
 and age of any such respondent4  7,b7  
,economic characteristics of any such   
respondent1 including employment status1
 educational attainment1 earnings1 and  
poverty status4  7#b7 ,limitation ,the  
,director shall ensure that no          
personally identifiable information of  
any individual is published under       
paragraph 7#a74