[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 47 (Thursday, April 13, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2768-S2769]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. COVERDELL:
  S. 2452. A bill to reduce the reading deficit in the United States by 
applying the findings of scientific research in reading instruction to 
all students who are learning to read the English language and to amend 
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to improve literacy 
through family literacy projects and to reauthorize the inexpensive 
book distribution program; to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions.


                READING DEFICIT ELIMINATION ACT OF 2000

  Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, America has a reading deficit! 
According to the National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS), 41 million 
adults are unable to perform even the simplest literacy tasks. The most 
recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) conducted in 
1998 continues to show that almost 70 percent of 4th grade students 
cannot read at a proficient level. Even worse, 40 percent of those 4th 
graders could not read at even a basic level for their grade.
  In short, Mr. President, unless we treat this situation as the 
national emergency that it is--and soon--the next decade will see an 
astonishing 70 percent of our 4th grade students joining the ranks of 
those 41 million American adults who are unable to perform simple 
literacy tasks.
  The ability to read the English language with fluency and 
comprehension is essential if individuals, old and young, are to reach 
their full potential in any field of endeavor. As the saying goes, 
``reading is fundamental.''
  And the statistics bear that out as well. Workers who lack a high 
school diploma earn a mean monthly income of $452, compared to $1,829 
for those with a bachelor's degree. Forty three percent of people with 
the lowest literacy skills live in poverty, 17 percent receive food 
stamps, and 70 percent have no job or a part-time job.
  And make no mistake that the nation itself and not just individuals 
will suffer. If our children are not taught to read, who will man our 
high tech defenses or fill the high tech jobs in America's future?
  Compounding these astounding statistics, Mr. President, the 1998 NAEP 
also found that minority students on average continue to lag far behind 
in reading proficiency, even though many of them are in Title I 
programs of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act or participated 
in Head Start programs.
  Clearly, throwing taxpayer money at the problem does not work. Our 
children's reading scores continue to decline or remain stagnant, even 
though Congress has spent more than $120 million over the past 30 years 
for academic enrichment programs under Title I and other federal 
efforts ostensibly with the primary purpose of improving reading skills 
among disadvantaged children.
  It should also be pointed out that more than half of the students 
being placed in the special learning disabilities category of our 
Special Education programs are there in large part because they have 
not learned to read. The national cost of special education at the 
federal, state, and local levels now exceeds $60 billion each year. The 
National Institute for Child Health and Human Development says that 90-
95 percent of these students could learn to read and be returned to 
their regular classrooms if they were given instruction using 
scientifically based reading principles. This would result in over $12 
billion in savings nationwide every year by eliminating the need for 
special education for these children.
  In response to these disturbing national statistics concerning the 
inability of so many children to read, I worked with Representative 
Bill Goodling--Chairman of the Education Committee in the House of 
Representatives--to develop the Reading Deficit Elimination Act of 
2000, which I am introducing today.
  By providing funds for teacher training, textbook and curriculum 
purchases, student assessments, teacher bonuses, and tuition assistance 
grants to parents, this legislation offers the States a helping hand in 
teaching students nationwide to read. Unlike the unfunded mandates that 
have failed in the past, this legislation will give states and 
communities funds to institute reading instruction based on years

[[Page S2769]]

of federally sponsored research, giving them the ability and the 
flexibility to help our children succeed.
  The National Reading Panel--requested by Congress and created by the 
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development--released its 
report just this morning on scientifically-based reading instruction 
and research in a hearing of the Senate's Labor/HHS Appropriations 
Subcommittee chaired by Senator Cochran.
  The report clearly articulates the most effective approaches to 
teaching children to read, the status of the research on reading, 
reading instruction practices that are ready to be used by teachers in 
classrooms around the country, and a plan to rapidly disseminate the 
findings to teachers and parents. The report also constitutes the most 
comprehensive review of existing reading research to be undertaken in 
American education history. Panel members identified more than 100,000 
research studies completed since 1966, developed and submitted them to 
rigorous criteria for their review.
  A major finding of the report was that systematic phonics instruction 
is one of the necessary components of a total reading program. 
Similarly, the NRP also found that the sequence of reading instruction 
that obtains maximum benefits for students should include instruction 
in phonemic awareness, systematic phonics, reading fluency, spelling, 
writing and reading comprehension strategies. We must use the knowledge 
of reading skills and the principles for teaching reading skills gained 
from these studies from the government and the private sector to reduce 
the number of individuals and students who cannot read.
  The programs and provisions in the Reading Deficit Elimination Act of 
2000 are based on these finding by the National Reading Panel.
  Mr. President, Frederick Douglass, arguably the most influential 
African American of the nineteenth century said, ``Once you learn to 
read, you will be forever free.'' Douglass knew the importance of 
freedom, and he knew the importance of literacy. The ability to read 
the English language with fluency and comprehension is essential if 
individuals are to reach their full potential in any endeavor. Again, 
as the saying goes: ``Reading is fundamental.'' No one should be left 
behind because they can't read. We must not limit the success of the 
next generation by allowing them to continue down the path of 
illiteracy. We must teach them to read and give them this fundamental 
tool they need to succeed in life as well as in school.
                                 ______