[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 20 (Wednesday, February 3, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S632-S633]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         RESEARCH EXCELLENCE AND ADVANCEMENTS FOR DYSLEXIA ACT

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be discharged from 
further consideration of H.R. 3033 and the Senate proceed to its 
immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 3033) 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.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Lee-
Murray amendment, which is at the desk, be agreed to; I ask that the 
bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed and the motion to 
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 3279) was agreed to, as follows:

(Purpose: To amend the National Science Foundation program on research 
                      on the science of dyslexia.)

       Strike section 4 of the bill and insert the following:

     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.

  The amendment was ordered to be engrossed, and the bill to be read a 
third time.
  The bill was read the third time.
  The bill (H.R. 3033), as amended, was passed.

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