I am one of 28 million people in the United States with hearing loss. Forty percent of us are over 65, and our ranks are growing. Hearing loss is now the most common sensory disorder and effects an increasing number of people every year. Some with hearing loss use sign language, but many more use hearing aids. It isn't always apparent that a person has hearing loss, which often makes communication challenging and frustrating. That problem is severely compounded for those who are unaware of or in denial of their hearing loss.

Hearing loss is an isolating phenomenon, creating difficult interactions with other people, causing observers to think the person who didn't hear is either rude, ignoring them, stupid or unable to respond. Those with hearing loss often feel disregarded when they are left out of conversations in which they are unable to keep up. Our culture today places responsibility for coping with hearing loss on the person who has it. However, oral communication is a two-way process and everyone can help make sure the many talented and energetic people with hearing loss are not deprived of their chance for productivity and community participation.

Our greatest immediate responsibility is to our children. We need to implement universal newborn hearing screening. Research shows if children are identified at birth as having hearing problems and receive educational intervention before six months of age, they perform as well as normally hearing children by the time they are five. We have the capability to identify hearing loss in newborns, now all we need is the political will. Colorado, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia all have mandatory newborn screening. Oregon and every other state should join that list. I urge the Oregon Legislature to act quickly to ensure that Oregon's deaf children have the chance to reach their full potential.

We can also begin to attack the problem of hearing loss through research. We are currently isolating more deafness-related genes and beginning to apply rehabilitative strategies based on that knowledge. We are also making rapid progress understanding how some animals, such as birds and fish, are able to regenerate inner-ear sensory cells. We are beginning to apply that knowledge to mammals and the day is coming when we will be able to replace the lost sensory cells that cause many forms of deafness and return the inner ear to normal function.

In the present, cochlear implants are making a dramatic impact for deaf children and adults. An early implant can maximize a young child's natural ability to learn language and speech. For children and adults who do not need a cochlear implant, further research into improving digital hearing aids is paramount. We need a new generation of devices that can be programmed to treat the unique hearing loss of each individual. We need to develop dependable computer speech-recognition systems that can display on a computer screen everything said in a classroom or meeting. Right now, such "real time captioning" efforts require significant expense and human effort.

Studies by the Deafness Research Foundation (Annual Report, 1997) show that each research dollar spent in hearing research is more productive than in any other research field. With the recent 15 percent increase in funding for the National Institutes of Health, the prospects for hearing research breakthroughs are greater than ever. Here in Portland, the Oregon Hearing Research Center and the Portland Veterans Affairs National Center for Auditory Rehabilitation Research Auditory Center are at the forefront of national hearing research and informing the public on hearing-related issues.

There is much hope for those with hearing loss. Companies such as KATU television, ODS Health Plans, Fred Meyer, U.S. Bancorp Securities, GST Telecommunications, Pacific Power and Tri-Met have stepped forward to provide and underwrite closed-captioning services on television. And efforts such as the Oregon Hearing Research Center's new lecture series are bringing deaf and hard of hearing people together to build statewide alliances.

I have long advocated building a defense system against disease that rivals our defense buildup against perceived foreign threats. Our efforts in overcoming hearing loss can be at the core of such a defense system. I hope you will join me in lending your voice and your advocacy to seek a long-term funding source for all medical research, including hearing research. Making this goal a national priority will assure that all Americans live the highest quality of life possible.