On March 3, 1993, in Washington, DC, an audience of 700 people rose to its feet and fervently applauded the NIH Consensus Conference Committee’s announcement of approval of universal newborn hearing screening. Not only did the committee endorse universal screening, but it also specified instrumentations that would be acceptable for such programs.¹  The sense of jubilation among professionals was tangible and intense, culminating a 3-day meeting during which evidence was presented justifying the final decision to endorse universal neonatal hearing screening. Finally, we thought, the long campaign to secure the right of newborns to be screened for hearing was over. This conference, sponsored by four branches of the National Institutes of Health, placed the imprimatur of the government on our cherished goal.