[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 71 (Wednesday, May 25, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S5918]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           REACH OUT AND READ

  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, today I rise in support of the Reach Out 
and Read program. Reach Out and Read is a program that promotes early 
literacy by educating doctors and parents about the importance of 
reading aloud. Reach Out and Read facilitates reading by giving books 
to children at pediatric check-ups from six months to five years of 
age, with a special focus on children growing up in poverty. Children 
who are exposed to reading in their first years of life learn to love 
books at an early age--a love that often stays with them throughout 
their teenage and adult lives. They are also more likely to escape the 
many problems associated with illiteracy and reading difficulty, 
including school absenteeism and dropout, juvenile delinquency, 
substance abuse, and teenage pregnancy.
  Reach Out and Read is active in more than 2,300 hospitals and health 
care centers in 50 States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto 
Rico. Two million children participate annually and 3.2 million new, 
developmentally appropriate books are given to family members.
  There are 123 Reach Out and Read clinical locations in my State of 
Massachusetts. More than 116,000 children participate in Reach Out and 
Read and more than 200,000 books are distributed annually.
  Reach Out and Read is unique. Funded both by both the Federal 
Government and private donations, it is a program with documented 
results. In 1998, the National Research Council released the much-
acclaimed report, ``Preventing Reading Difficulties n Young Children'' 
which specifically cites Reach Out and Read as a program that 
effectively encourages young children to read. It is supported by the 
Department of Pediatrics at the Boston University School of Medicine 
and is endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. We should all 
continue to support this very special program.

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