LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION recognizing February 14-20, 2016, as National
Court Reporting and Captioning Week

WHEREAS, Since 3500 B.C., individuals have wanted the spoken word trans-
lated into text to record important thoughts and historic times, and
have relied on scribes to accomplish this task; the profession of scribe
was born with the rise of civilization; and
WHEREAS, In ancient Egypt, scribes were considered to be the literate
elite, recording laws and other important documents and, since that
time, have served as impartial witnesses to history; and
WHEREAS, Scribes were present with our Nation's founding fathers as
the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights were drafted, and
President Lincoln entrusted scribes to record the Emancipation Proclama-
tion; and
WHEREAS, Since the advent of shorthand machines, these scribes have
been known as court reporters, and they have played a permanent and
invaluable role in courtrooms across our country; court reporters are
responsible for producing a complete, accurate, and secure legal tran-
script of courtroom proceedings, witness testimonies, and depositions;
and
WHEREAS, Court reporters are also present in Congress and the New York
State Legislature, transcribing the proceedings and preserving the words
and actions of the lawmakers and guest speakers; and
WHEREAS, Court reporters and captioners are also responsible for the
closed captioning seen scrolling across television screens, at sporting
stadiums and in other community and educational settings, bringing
information to millions of deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans every day;
and
WHEREAS, Today, court reporters and captioners throughout the Empire
State and Nation work to preserve thought, preserve history, and support
the cornerstone of our justice system, as well as serve the deaf and
hard-of-hearing community by providing captioning and CART services; and
WHEREAS, Whether called the scribes of yesterday or the court repor-
ters and captioners of today, the individuals who translate the spoken
word into text and preserve our nation's history are truly the guardians
of the record; and
WHEREAS, The National Court Reporters Association (NCRA), the coun-
try's leading organization representing stenographic court reporters,
broadcast and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) caption-
ers, and legal videographers, has designated February 14-20, 2016, as
National Court Reporting and Captioning Week; and
WHEREAS, This week-long event is designed to help celebrate the court
reporting and captioning professions, as well as help raise public
awareness about the growing number of employment opportunities in the
career field; and
WHEREAS, Court reporters, captioners, CART providers, state court
reporter associations, and court reporting schools around the country
will participate in the week-long event by hosting an array of activ-
ities, such as visits to high schools to showcase the profession, open
houses, Veterans History Project interviews, and media outreach initi-
atives; and
WHEREAS, The New York State Court Reporters Association (NYSCRA) is
organizing Meet & Greets all around the State during National Court
Reporting and Captioning Week; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause to hereby recognize Febru-
ary 14-20, 2016, as National Court Reporting and Captioning Week; and be
it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of the Resolution, suitably engrossed, be trans-
mitted to the New York State Court Reporters Association (NYSCRA).