[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3033 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.3033

                     One Hundred Fourteenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

           Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,
           the fourth day of January, two thousand and sixteen


                                 An Act


 
 To require the President's annual budget request to Congress each year 
   to include a line item for the Research in Disabilities Education 
 program of the National Science Foundation and to require the National 
           Science Foundation to conduct research on dyslexia.

    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 ``Research Excellence and Advancements 
for Dyslexia Act'' or the ``READ Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
    The Congress finds the following:
        (1) As many as 1 out of 6, or 8,500,000, American school 
    children may have dyslexia.
        (2) Since 1975, dyslexia has been included in the list of 
    qualifying learning disabilities under the Education for All 
    Handicapped Children Act of 1975 and the Individuals with 
    Disabilities Education Act.
SEC. 3. RESEARCH IN DISABILITIES EDUCATION.
    (a) Program.--Nothing in this Act alters the National Science 
Foundation's Research in Disabilities Education program for fundamental 
and implementation research about learners (of all ages) with 
disabilities, including dyslexia, in science, technology, engineering, 
and mathematics (STEM). The National Science Foundation shall continue 
to encourage efforts to understand and address disability-based 
differences in STEM education and workforce participation, including 
differences for dyslexic learners.
    (b) Line Item.--The Director of the National Science Foundation 
shall include the amount requested for the Research in Disabilities 
Education program in the Foundation's annual congressional budget 
justification.
SEC. 4. DYSLEXIA.
    (a) In General.--Consistent with subsection (c), the National 
Science Foundation shall support multi-directorate, merit-reviewed, and 
competitively awarded research on the science of specific learning 
disability, including dyslexia, such as research on the early 
identification of children and students with dyslexia, professional 
development for teachers and administrators of students with dyslexia, 
curricula and educational tools needed for children with dyslexia, and 
implementation and scaling of successful models of dyslexia 
intervention. Research supported under this subsection shall be 
conducted with the goal of practical application.
    (b) Awards.--To promote development of early career researchers, in 
awarding funds under subsection (a) the National Science Foundation 
shall prioritize applications for funding submitted by early career 
researchers.
    (c) Coordination.--To prevent unnecessary duplication of research, 
activities under this Act shall be coordinated with similar activities 
supported by other Federal agencies, including research funded by the 
Institute of Education Sciences and the National Institutes of Health.
    (d) Funding.--The National Science Foundation shall devote not less 
than $5,000,000 to research described in subsection (a), which shall 
include not less than $2,500,000 for research on the science of 
dyslexia, for each of fiscal years 2017 through 2021, subject to the 
availability of appropriations, to come from amounts made available for 
the Research and Related Activities account or the Education and Human 
Resources Directorate under subsection (e). This section shall be 
carried out using funds otherwise appropriated by law after the date of 
enactment of this Act.
    (e) Authorization.--For each of fiscal years 2016 through 2021, 
there are authorized out of funds appropriated to the National Science 
Foundation, $5,000,000 to carry out the activities described in 
subsection (a).
SEC. 5. DEFINITION OF SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITY.
    In this Act, the term ``specific learning disability''--
        (1) means a disorder in 1 or more of the basic psychological 
    processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or 
    written, which disorder may manifest itself in the imperfect 
    ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do 
    mathematical calculations;
        (2) includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain 
    injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental 
    aphasia; and
        (3) does not include a learning problem that is primarily the 
    result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of intellectual 
    disability, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, 
    cultural, or economic disadvantage.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.