[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2214 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2214

   To amend the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act to establish 
  integrated English literacy and civics education programs, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 8, 2007

Mr. Hinojosa (for himself, Mr. Pastor, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Gonzalez, Ms. 
Corrine Brown of Florida, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Ortiz, Mr. Reyes, Ms. Solis, 
and Mr. Gutierrez) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees 
   on Ways and Means and Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act to establish 
  integrated English literacy and civics education programs, and for 
                            other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Adults Achieving the American Dream 
Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy, 
        93 million adults in the United States have limited reading, 
        writing, and mathematics skills, and 14 percent of adults in 
        the United States have below basic proficiency in prose 
        literacy.
            (2) According to the United States Census, nearly 16 
        percent of adults over the age of 25 have not attained a high 
        school diploma or its equivalent.
            (3) According to the United States Census, over 23 million 
        individuals speak do not speak English well.
            (4) An estimated 8 million aliens admitted for lawful 
        permanent residency are eligible to apply for United States 
        citizenship.
            (5) Recent reports indicate that a majority of Adult 
        English as a Second Language programs have waiting lists, and 
        some such programs have dropped waiting lists because of the 
        extreme demand for English as a second language services.
            (6) Only three percent of the 93 million adults who could 
        benefit from adult education services, English literacy, and 
        civics education programs actually participate in such services 
        and programs.
            (7) There is a growing and urgent need for additional adult 
        education, English literacy, and civics education programs for 
        adults in the United States.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE ADULT EDUCATION AND FAMILY LITERACY ACT.

    (a) Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education Program.--
Section 203 of the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (20 U.S.C. 
9202) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(19) Integrated english literacy and civics education 
        programs.--The term `integrated English literacy and civics 
        education programs' means programs of instruction designed to 
        help an individual of limited English proficiency achieve 
        competence in English through contextualized instruction on the 
        rights and responsibilities of citizenship, naturalization 
        procedures, civic participation, and United States history and 
        government to help such an individual acquire the skills and 
        knowledge to become an active and informed parent, worker, and 
        community member.''.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 205 of such Act (20 
U.S.C. 9204) is amended by inserting before the period at the end the 
following: ``, $650,000,000 for fiscal year 2008, $750,000,000 for 
fiscal year 2009, $850,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, $950,000,000 for 
fiscal year 2011, $1,100,000,000 for fiscal year 2012, and 
$1,200,000,000 for fiscal year 2013''.
    (c) Reservation of Funds.--Section 211(a) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 
9211(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``$8,000,000'' and 
        inserting ``$15,000,000'';
            (2) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) by striking ``1.5 percent'' and inserting 
                ``1.25 percent'';
                    (B) by striking ``$8,000,000'' and inserting 
                ``$12,000,000''; and
                    (C) by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (3) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(4) shall reserve 12 percent of the amount that remains 
        after reserving and making available funds under paragraphs 
        (1), (2), and (3) to carry out section 244.''.
    (d) National Institute for Literacy.--Section 242(c)(1) of such Act 
(20 U.S.C. 9252(c)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A)--
                    (A) by redesignating clauses (ii), (iii), and (iv) 
                as clauses (iii), (iv), and (v), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after clause (i) the following new 
                clause:
                            ``(ii) effective practices in the provision 
                        of integrated English literacy and civics 
                        education programs;'';
            (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (G), (H), and (I) as 
        subparagraphs (H), (I), and (J), respectively; and
            (3) by inserting after subparagraph (F) the following new 
        subparagraph:
                    ``(G) to coordinate and share information with 
                national organizations and associations that are 
                interested in integrated English literacy and civics 
                education programs;''.
    (e) National Leadership Activities.--Section 243 of such Act (20 
U.S.C. 9253) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``, and 
                integrated English literacy and civics education 
                programs'' before the semicolon at the end; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ``and 
                integrated English literacy and civics education 
                programs'' before ``based on scientific evidence'';
            (2) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ``, and 
                integrated English literacy and civics education 
                programs'' before the semicolon at the end;
                    (B) in subparagraph (D)(ii), insert ``integrated 
                English literacy and civics education programs,'' 
                before ``and workplace literacy programs'';
                    (C) in subparagraph (E)--
                            (i) in clause (i), insert ``, and 
                        integrated English literacy and civics 
                        education programs'' before the semicolon at 
                        the end;
                            (ii) in clause (iii), by striking ``and'' 
                        at the end;
                            (iii) in clause (iv)--
                                    (I) by inserting ``and section 
                                244'' after ``section 231''; and
                                    (II) by striking the period at the 
                                end and inserting ``; and''; and
                            (iv) by adding at the end the following new 
                        clause:
                            ``(v) the extent to which integrated 
                        English literacy and civics education programs 
                        carried out under section 244 lead participants 
                        in such programs to increase their civic 
                        participation and, if applicable, lead such 
                        participants to become United States 
                        citizens.''.
    (f) Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education.--Chapter 4 of 
subtitle A of such Act (20 U.S.C. 9251 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new section:

``SEC. 244. INTEGRATED ENGLISH LITERACY AND CIVICS EDUCATION PROGRAMS.

    ``(a) In General.--From funds reserved under section 211(a)(4) for 
each fiscal year, the Secretary shall award grants to States, from 
allocations under subsection (b), for integrated English literacy and 
civics education programs.
    ``(b) Allocations.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2) and with 
        respect to funds described in subsection (a), the Secretary 
        shall allocate--
                    ``(A) 65 percent to States on the basis of a 
                State's need for integrated English and civics 
                education programs, as determined by calculating each 
                State's share of a ten-year average of the data 
                compiled by the Office of Immigration Statistics of the 
                Department of Homeland Security, for immigrants 
                admitted for lawful permanent residence for the ten 
                most recent years; and
                    ``(B) 35 percent to the States on the basis of 
                whether the State experienced growth, as measured by 
                the average of the three most recent years for which 
                data compiled by the Office of Immigration Statistics 
                of the Department of Homeland Security are available, 
                for immigrants admitted for lawful permanent residence.
            ``(2) Minimum.--No State shall receive an allocation under 
        paragraph (1) in an amount that is less than $60,000.''.

SEC. 4. EXPANDING EVEN START FAMILY LITERACY PROGRAMS.

    Section 1002(b)(3) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 is amended to read as follows:
            ``(3) Even start.--For the purpose of carrying out subpart 
        3 of part B, there are authorized to be appropriated 
        $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and such sums as may be 
        necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.''.

SEC. 5. RESEARCH IN ADULT EDUCATION.

    (a) In General.--Section 133(c)(A) of the Education Sciences Reform 
Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9533(c)(A)) is amended by inserting ``education 
and'' before ``literacy''.
    (b) National Research and Development Center.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Education shall direct 
        the Commissioner for Education Research of the National Center 
        for Education Research established pursuant to section 131 of 
        the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9531) to 
        establish a national research and development center for adult 
        education and literacy as described in section 133(c)(A) of 
        such Act (22 U.S.C. 9533(c)(A)) (as amended by subsection (a)).
            (2) Provision for expansion of research.--If, as of the 
        date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner has 
        established a center for adult literacy in accordance with 
        section 133(c)(A) of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, 
        the Commissioner shall expand the topic of research of such 
        center to include adult education, in accordance with the 
        amendment made by subsection (a).

SEC. 6. IMMIGRANTS TO NEW AMERICANS.

    The Secretary of Homeland Security shall transfer to the Secretary 
of Education to carry out integrated English literacy and civics 
education programs under section 244 of the Adult Education and Family 
Literacy Act (as added by section 3(f) of this Act) two percent of all 
fees collected under section 218(a)(2) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1188(a)(2)) and two percent of all civil 
penalties collected under section 274A(e)(4) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 
1324a(e)(4)).

SEC. 7. CREDIT FOR EMPLOYER PROVIDED ADULT ENGLISH LITERACY AND BASIC 
              EDUCATION PROGRAMS.

    (a) In General.--Subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to business related 
credits) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 45O. EMPLOYER-PROVIDED ADULT ENGLISH LITERACY AND BASIC 
              EDUCATION PROGRAMS.

    ``(a) In General.--For purposes of section 38, the credit 
determined under this section with respect to any employer for the 
taxable year is an amount equal to 20 percent of qualified education 
program expenses for the taxable year.
    ``(b) Limitation.--The amount of the credit determined under 
subsection (a) shall not exceed an amount equal to the product of 
$1,000 multiplied by the average number of full-time employees of the 
employer for the taxable year.
    ``(c) Qualified Education Program Expenses.--For purposes of this 
section--
            ``(1) In general.--The term `qualified education program 
        expenses' means expenses paid or incurred by an employer to 
        make available qualified education to employees of the 
        employer, who are individuals of limited English proficiency or 
        have not received a secondary school diploma, or its recognized 
        equivalent, or who lack sufficient mastery of basic educational 
        skills to enable the individuals to function effectively in 
        society.
            ``(2) Qualified education.--The term `qualified education' 
        means adult education and literacy activities provided--
                    ``(A) by an eligible provider which for the fiscal 
                year ending during the employer's taxable year receives 
                Federal funds under section 231 of the Adult Education 
                and Family Literacy Act for adult education and 
                literacy activities, or
                    ``(B) in curriculum approved by an eligible agency.
            ``(3) Other terms defined.--The terms `individuals of 
        limited English proficiency', `eligible provider', `adult 
        education and literacy activities', and `eligible agency' shall 
        have the respective meanings given to such terms in the Adult 
        Education and Family Literacy Act.
    ``(d) Special Rules.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) Full-time employment.--An employee shall be 
        considered full-time if such employee is employed at least 30 
        hours per week for 25 or more calendar weeks in the taxable 
        year.
            ``(2) Aggregation rule.--All persons treated as a single 
        employer under subsection (a) or (b) or section 52, or 
        subsection (m) or (o) of section 414, shall be treated as one 
        person.
    ``(e) Denial of Double Benefit.--No deduction or credit shall be 
allowed under any other provision of this chapter for any amount taken 
into account in determining the credit under this section.
    ``(f) Election To Have Credit Not Apply.--A taxpayer may elect (at 
such time and in such manner as the Secretary may by regulations 
prescribe) to have this section not apply for any taxable year.''.
    (b) Credit To Be Part of General Business Credit.--Subsection (b) 
of section 38 of such Code (relating to current year business credit) 
is amended by striking ``plus'' at the end of paragraph (30), by 
striking the period at the end of paragraph (31) and inserting ``, 
plus'', and by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(32) the adult English literacy and basic education 
        programs credit determined under section 45O.''.
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for subpart D of 
part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the such Code is amended by 
adding at the end the following new item:

``45O. Employer-provided adult English literacy and basic education 
                            programs.''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2007.
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