[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2990 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2990

To establish a Commission to Educate our Nation's Teachers and Students 
                     on Financial Literacy Skills.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 3, 2003

  Mrs. Biggert (for herself, Mr. Scott of Georgia, Mr. Hinojosa, Mr. 
 Ross, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Lucas of Kentucky, Mrs. Maloney, Ms. Lee, Mr. 
Baker, Ms. Hart, Mr. Ose, Mr. Kanjorski, Mr. Gonzalez, Ms. Harris, and 
 Mr. Emanuel) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish a Commission to Educate our Nation's Teachers and Students 
                     on Financial Literacy Skills.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. COMMISSION TO EDUCATE OUR NATION'S TEACHERS AND STUDENTS ON 
              FINANCIAL LITERACY SKILLS.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) A range of trends points to the need for individuals in 
        the United States to receive a practical economics education 
        that will give the individuals tools to make responsible 
        choices about their limited financial resources, choices which 
        will impact individuals' credit ratings.
            (2) An individual's credit rating will affect his or her 
        ability to buy a home, finance education, establish a small 
        business and prepare for retirement.
            (3) Building and maintaining sound credit requires 
        knowledge of personal finance and economics.
            (4) Basic economics education is a key to understanding 
        personal finance.
            (5) A number of Federal departments and agencies have 
        implemented programs to improve personal finance and economics 
        education, including the Departments of Education, Labor, 
        Treasury, and Housing and Urban Development, as well as the 
        Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Board of Governors 
        of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Trade Commission and 
        the Securities Exchange Commission.
            (6) Coordinating existing Federal efforts, maximizing the 
        impact of existing private sector efforts, and identifying and 
        promoting best practices are necessary to improve economic and 
        personal finance education and to improve individuals' credit 
        and economic well-being.
    (b) Authority To Establish Commission.--Not later than January 31, 
2005, the President shall convene a Commission to Educate our Nation's 
Teachers and Students on Financial Literacy Skills (hereafter in this 
section referred to as the ``Commission'') to examine and identify 
government policies that promote economic and financial literacy.
    (c) Scope of the Commission.--The scope of the Commission shall 
consist of issues relating to economic and financial education.
    (d) Purposes.--The purposes of the Commission shall be--
            (1) to make recommendations on integrating economic and 
        personal finance education into primary, secondary, and 
        postsecondary curricula;
            (2) to identify and make recommendations regarding best 
        practices in economic and personal finance education;
            (3) to make recommendations on coordinating existing 
        Federal and private sector economic and financial literacy 
        education programs; and
            (4) to carry out such other duties as the Commission 
        members deem appropriate, consistent with this Act.
    (e) Commission Members.--To carry out the purposes of the 
Commission, the Commission shall include--
            (1) three members appointed by the President, one of whom 
        shall be designated by the President as the Chairperson of the 
        Commission;
            (2) two members appointed by the Speaker of the House of --
        --Representatives;
            (3) two members appointed by the minority leader of the 
        House of Representatives;
            (4) two members appointed by the majority leader of the 
        Senate; and
            (5) two members appointed by the minority leader of the 
        Senate.
    (f) Appointment Requirements.--The Commission members shall--
            (1) be appointed not later than January 31, 2005; and
            (2) include at least one representative of each of the 
        following groups:
                    (A) Primary and secondary educators.
                    (B) Postsecondary educators.
                    (C) The financial services industry.
                    (D) State and local governments.
                    (E) organizations involved in promoting economics 
                education.
    (g) Commission Administration.--
            (1) Administration.--In administering this section, the 
        Chairperson of the Commission shall--
                    (A) request the cooperation and assistance of such 
                Federal departments and agencies as may be appropriate 
                in the carrying out of this section;
                    (B) furnish all reasonable assistance to State 
                agencies, area agencies, and other appropriate 
                organizations to enable them to provide testimony and 
                otherwise participate in the Commission's hearings;
                    (C) make available for public comment a proposed 
                agenda for the Commission that reflects to the greatest 
                extent possible the purposes for the Commission set out 
                in this section;
                    (D) prepare and make available background materials 
                for the use of participants in the Commission that the 
                Chairperson considers necessary; and
                    (E) appoint and fix the pay of such additional 
                personnel as may be necessary to carry out the 
                provisions of this section without regard to provisions 
                of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments 
                in the competitive service, and without regard to 
                chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such 
                title relating to classification and General Schedule 
                pay-rates.
            (2) Duties of the chairperson.--The Chairperson of the 
        Commission shall, in carrying out the responsibilities and 
        functions of the Chairperson under this section, ensure that--
                    (A) the Commission shall hold hearings in 
                accordance with this section;
                    (B) the Commission shall be conducted in a manner 
                that ensures broad participation of Federal, State, and 
                local agencies and private organizations, 
                professionals, and others involved in economic 
                education; and
                    (C) the agenda prepared under paragraph (1)(C) for 
                the Commission is published in the Federal Register.
            (3) Nonapplication of federal advisory committee act.--The 
        provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 
        App.) shall not apply to the Commission.
    (h) Hearings.--
            (1) In general.--The Commission shall hold public hearings 
        to receive testimony related to the recommendations to be 
        included in the Commission's report identified in subsection 
        (h)(3).
            (2) Field hearings.--The Commission shall conduct at least 
        4 hearings to be held in different States.
    (i) Report.--
            (1) In general.--The Commission shall prepare a report 
        describing the activities and recommendations of the Commission 
        and shall submit the report to the President, the Speaker and 
        Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, the Majority 
        and Minority Leaders of the Senate, and the chief executive 
        officers of the States not later than July 1, 2005.
            (2) Approval of report.--Approval of the Commission's 
        report shall require a majority of the Commission.
            (3) Report contents.--In addition to summarizing the 
        activities of the Commission, the report shall include 
        proposals for improving economics and finance education, 
        including recommendations for--
                    (A) integrating high quality, standards-based 
                economic and financial education in the curricula of 
                primary, secondary and postsecondary education;
                    (B) identifying best practices in the teaching of 
                economics and personal finance including teacher 
                training and development of curricular materials;
                    (C) coordinating and enhancing existing federal and 
                private sector efforts to improve economic education 
                and financial literacy;
                    (D) assessing and identifying best practices for 
                the training of teachers and educators in economics and 
                finance; and
                    (E) developing models for public-private 
                partnerships in the promotion of economic and finance 
                education.
    (j) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term ``State'' 
means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 
Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, the 
Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and any other territory or possession 
of the United States.
    (k) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated for fiscal years beginning on or after October 1, 2004, 
such sums as are necessary to carry out this section.
    (l) Financial Obligation for Fiscal Year 2005.--The financial 
obligation for the Commission for fiscal year 2005 shall not exceed 
$500,000.
    (m) Contracts.--The Chairperson of the Commission may enter into 
contracts to carry out the Chairperson's responsibilities under this 
section. The Chairperson shall enter into a contract on a sole-source 
basis to ensure the timely completion of the Commission's activities.
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