[House Report 105-675]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



105th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 2d Session                                                     105-675
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  PROVIDING FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 3892, THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 
                              FLUENCY ACT

                                _______
                                

   August 4, 1998.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

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     Mr. Goss, from the Committee on Rules, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                       [To accompany H. Res. 516]

    The Committee on Rules, having had under consideration 
House Resolution 516, by a non-record vote, report the same to 
the House with the recommendation that the resolution be 
adopted.

               brief summary of provisions of resolution

    The resolution provides for the consideration of H.R. 3892, 
the ``English Language Fluency Act'' under a modified open 
rule. The rule provides one hour of general debate divided 
equally between the chairman and ranking minority member of the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce.
    The rule provides for a 3 hour limit on the amendment 
process, after which no further amendment shall be in order 
except those printed in the Congressional Record, with each 
further amendment and all amendments thereto to be debatable 
for 10 minutes equally divided and controlled by a proponent 
and an opponent.
    The rule makes in order the Committee on Education and the 
Workforce amendment in the nature of a substitute now printed 
in the bill as an original bill for purpose of amendment, which 
shall be considered as read.
    Also, the rule provides for the consideration of the 
(manager's) amendment numbered 1 printed in the Congressional 
Record if offered by Representative Riggs or his designee, 
which shall be considered as read, shall not be subject to 
amendment or to a division of the question, and shall be 
debatable for 10 minutes equally divided between the proponent 
and an opponent. If adopted, the amendment is considered as 
part of the base text for further amendment purposes.
    The rule further provides that after the disposition of the 
amendment numbered 1, it shall be in order to consider the 
amendment numbered 2 printed in the Congressional Record if 
offered by Representative Riggs or his designee, which shall be 
considered as read, and including all amendments thereto, shall 
be debatable for 30 minutes equally divided between the 
proponent and an opponent.
    The Chair is authorized to accord priority in recognition 
to Members who have preprinted their amendments in the 
Congressional Record.
    The rule allows for the Chairman of the Committee of the 
Whole to postpone votes during consideration of the bill, and 
to reduce votes to five minutes on a postponed question if the 
vote follows a fifteen minute vote.
    Finally, the rule provides one motion to recommit, with or 
without instructions.

summary of amendments made in order under the rule (summaries provided 
            by the committee on education and the workforce)

Summary of Manager's Amendment

    The Managers Amendment makes several changes to H.R. 3892 
as follows.
    1. Adds a 5-year declining hold-harmless so that States 
don't experience a dramatic decrease during the transition from 
a competitive grant to a formula grant program. The hold-
harmless would decrease over 5 years as follows: 100 percent; 
100 percent; 95 percent; 90 percent; 85 percent.
    2. Provides additional funds, through a separate 
authorization, to States for school districts heavily impacted 
by large numbers of limited English proficient students and 
immigrant children and youth.
    3. Adds to the list of approved local activities allowing 
funds to be used for tutoring programs for limited English 
proficient and immigrant children and youth that provide early 
intervention services to prevent such children from dropping 
out of school.
    4. Makes two changes to the evaluation section to clarify 
that progress be determined by both the number and percentage 
of children having attained mastery in English at the end of 
the school year; and outline the design for measures to 
evaluate the English language skills of students, based on the 
grade of the child.

Summary of Riggs No. 2 Amendment

    The amendment modifies the application section of H.R. 3892 
to permit States to approve applications from eligible entities 
only if they are not in violation of any State law, including 
State constitutional law, regarding the education of English 
language learners.

                                
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