[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5405]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING READ ACROSS AMERICA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. NICK J. RAHALL II

                            of west virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 5, 2007

  Mr. RAHALL. Madam Speaker, in May 1997, a small reading task force at 
National Education Association came up with a big idea. ``Let's create 
a day to celebrate reading,'' the group decided. ``We hold pep rallies 
to get kids excited about football--why don't we do something to get 
kids excited about reading? We'll call it `NEA's Read Across America' 
and we'll celebrate it on Dr. Seuss's birthday.'' And so was born on 
March 2, 1998, the largest celebration of reading this country has ever 
seen.
  To commemorate this special day, I recently joined third-graders at 
Coal City Elementary and read to them some of Dr. Seuss' more famous 
stories, including The Cat in the Hat, which marks its 50th anniversary 
this year. As always, it was a joy to spend some time with the students 
and their instructors, Sandra Snuffer, Donna Thomas and Janet Smith. I 
was inspired by the students' interest in learning, and encouraged by 
our educators' dedication to teaching them the importance of literacy.
  Of course, as we all know, just as reading should not be confined to 
our classrooms, neither should our efforts to encourage literacy be 
confined to one single day of the year. As President Bill Clinton once 
said, ``Literacy is not a luxury, it is a right and a responsibility. 
If our world is to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century we 
must harness the energy and creativity of all our citizens.''
  It's hard to believe, but 20 percent of the people you see during the 
course of a day cannot read, according to most recent statistics. In 
the Third District of West Virginia, this average is even higher, at 24 
percent. This is a startling statistic that needs to change and we are 
deeply indebted to the organizations that devote themselves to this 
important cause--organizations like the Literacy West Virginia, which 
has councils in all of West Virginia's 55 counties. On February 21, I 
had the opportunity to meet with the Tri-State Literacy Council and its 
director Dee George at the Cabell County Library to discuss the great 
strides the organization is making in adult education.
  I am proud of my record of support for literacy programs and 
initiatives. Time and again I have opposed budget proposals from this 
Administration that would cut funding to important literacy programs 
which are intended to assist families break the cycle of poverty and 
illiteracy. And I will continue to fight policies that undermine the 
hard work so many are doing to improve reading levels in the Mountain 
State.
  I have also again contacted my colleagues on the Appropriations 
Committee in Congress urging them to provide $25 million in federal 
funds to the Reading Is Fundamental Inexpensive Book Distribution 
Program (RIF), allowing this important literacy initiative to continue 
operating at its current level. As the Nation's largest children's 
literacy organization, RIF last year provided more than 16 million new 
books free of charge to nearly 4.5 million of the Nation's most 
underserved children in all fifty states.
  Literacy is the gateway to educational excellence and a key to 
success in our society. On Read Aloud Day, let us recommit to helping 
improve the lives of the men, women, and children in West Virginia and 
across America who cannot read.
  Because with literacy, to borrow from the great Dr. Seuss himself:

     You have brains in your head.
     You have feet in your shoes
     You can steer yourself
     any direction you choose.

                          ____________________