I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2214 

To amend the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act to establish integrated English literacy and civics education programs, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 8, 2007 

Mr. HINOJOSA (for himself, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GONZALEZ, Ms. 

CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. REYES, Ms. 

SOLIS, and Mr. GUTIERREZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the 

Committees on Ways and Means and Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act 

to establish integrated English literacy and civics education programs, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Adults Achieving the 

5 American Dream Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) According to the National Assessment of 

2 Adult Literacy, 93 million adults in the United 

3 States have limited reading, writing, and mathe4 matics skills, and 14 percent of adults in the United 

5 States have below basic proficiency in prose literacy. 

6 (2) According to the United States Census, 

7 nearly 16 percent of adults over the age of 25 have 

8 not attained a high school diploma or its equivalent. 

9 (3) According to the United States Census, over 

10 23 million individuals speak do not speak English 

11 well. 

12 (4) An estimated 8 million aliens admitted for 

13 lawful permanent residency are eligible to apply for 

14 United States citizenship. 

15 (5) Recent reports indicate that a majority of 

16 Adult English as a Second Language programs have 

17 waiting lists, and some such programs have dropped 

18 waiting lists because of the extreme demand for 

19 English as a second language services. 

20 (6) Only three percent of the 93 million adults 

21 who could benefit from adult education services, 

22 English literacy, and civics education programs actu23 ally participate in such services and programs. 


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1 (7) There is a growing and urgent need for ad2 ditional adult education, English literacy, and civics 

3 education programs for adults in the United States. 

4 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE ADULT EDUCATION AND 

5 FAMILY LITERACY ACT. 

6 (a) INTEGRATED ENGLISH LITERACY AND CIVICS

7 EDUCATION PROGRAM.—Section 203 of the Adult Edu8 cation and Family Literacy Act (20 U.S.C. 9202) is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following new para10 graph: 

11 ‘‘(19) INTEGRATED ENGLISH LITERACY AND

12 CIVICS EDUCATION PROGRAMS.—The term ‘inte13 grated English literacy and civics education pro14 grams’ means programs of instruction designed to 

15 help an individual of limited English proficiency 

16 achieve competence in English through 

17 contextualized instruction on the rights and respon18 sibilities of citizenship, naturalization procedures, 

19 civic participation, and United States history and 

20 government to help such an individual acquire the 

21 skills and knowledge to become an active and in22 formed parent, worker, and community member.’’. 

23 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

24 205 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 9204) is amended by inserting 

25 before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, 


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1 $650,000,000 for fiscal year 2008, $750,000,000 for fis2 cal year 2009, $850,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, 

3 $950,000,000 for fiscal year 2011, $1,100,000,000 for fis4 cal year 2012, and $1,200,000,000 for fiscal year 2013’’. 

5 (c) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—Section 211(a) of 

6 such Act (20 U.S.C. 9211(a)) is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘$8,000,000’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘$15,000,000’’; 

9 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘1.5 percent’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘1.25 percent’’; 

12 (B) by striking ‘‘$8,000,000’’ and insert13 ing ‘‘$12,000,000’’; and 

14 (C) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

15 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at 

16 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

17 (4) by adding at the end the following new 

18 paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(4) shall reserve 12 percent of the amount 

20 that remains after reserving and making available 

21 funds under paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) to carry 

22 out section 244.’’. 

23 (d) NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR LITERACY.—Section 

24 242(c)(1) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 9252(c)(1)) is amend25 ed— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 

2 (A) by redesignating clauses (ii), (iii), and 

3 (iv) as clauses (iii), (iv), and (v), respectively; 

4 and 

5 (B) by inserting after clause (i) the fol6 lowing new clause: 

7 ‘‘(ii) effective practices in the provi8 sion of integrated English literacy and 

9 civics education programs;’’; 

10 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (G), (H), 

11 and (I) as subparagraphs (H), (I), and (J), respec12 tively; and 

13 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (F) the fol14 lowing new subparagraph: 

15 ‘‘(G) to coordinate and share information 

16 with national organizations and associations 

17 that are interested in integrated English lit18 eracy and civics education programs;’’. 

19 (e) NATIONAL LEADERSHIP ACTIVITIES.—Section 

20 243 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 9253) is amended— 

21 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

22 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘, 

23 and integrated English literacy and civics edu24 cation programs’’ before the semicolon at the 

25 end; and 


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1 (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 

2 ‘‘and integrated English literacy and civics edu3 cation programs’’ before ‘‘based on scientific 

4 evidence’’; 

5 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

6 (A) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘, 

7 and integrated English literacy and civics edu8 cation programs’’ before the semicolon at the 

9 end; 

10 (B) in subparagraph (D)(ii), insert ‘‘inte11 grated English literacy and civics education 

12 programs,’’ before ‘‘and workplace literacy pro13 grams’’; 

14 (C) in subparagraph (E)— 

15 (i) in clause (i), insert ‘‘, and inte16 grated English literacy and civics edu17 cation programs’’ before the semicolon at 

18 the end; 

19 (ii) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

20 at the end; 

21 (iii) in clause (iv)— 

22 (I) by inserting ‘‘and section 

23 244’’ after ‘‘section 231’’; and 

24 (II) by striking the period at the 

25 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 


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1 (iv) by adding at the end the following 

2 new clause: 

3 ‘‘(v) the extent to which integrated 

4 English literacy and civics education pro5 grams carried out under section 244 lead 

6 participants in such programs to increase 

7 their civic participation and, if applicable, 

8 lead such participants to become United 

9 States citizens.’’. 

10 (f) INTEGRATED ENGLISH LITERACY AND CIVICS

11 EDUCATION.—Chapter 4 of subtitle A of such Act (20 

12 U.S.C. 9251 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

13 the following new section: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 244. INTEGRATED ENGLISH LITERACY AND CIVICS 

15 EDUCATION PROGRAMS. 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From funds reserved under sec17 tion 211(a)(4) for each fiscal year, the Secretary shall 

18 award grants to States, from allocations under subsection 

19 (b), for integrated English literacy and civics education 

20 programs. 

21 ‘‘(b) ALLOCATIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2) 

23 and with respect to funds described in subsection 

24 (a), the Secretary shall allocate— 


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1 ‘‘(A) 65 percent to States on the basis of 

2 a State’s need for integrated English and civics 

3 education programs, as determined by calcu4 lating each State’s share of a ten-year average 

5 of the data compiled by the Office of Immigra6 tion Statistics of the Department of Homeland 

7 Security, for immigrants admitted for lawful 

8 permanent residence for the ten most recent 

9 years; and 

10 ‘‘(B) 35 percent to the States on the basis 

11 of whether the State experienced growth, as 

12 measured by the average of the three most re13 cent years for which data compiled by the Of14 fice of Immigration Statistics of the Depart15 ment of Homeland Security are available, for 

16 immigrants admitted for lawful permanent resi17 dence. 

18 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM.—No State shall receive an allo19 cation under paragraph (1) in an amount that is less 

20 than $60,000.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. EXPANDING EVEN START FAMILY LITERACY PRO22 GRAMS. 

23 Section 1002(b)(3) of the Elementary and Secondary 

24 Education Act of 1965 is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(3) EVEN START.—For the purpose of car2 rying out subpart 3 of part B, there are authorized 

3 to be appropriated $500,000,000 for fiscal year 

4 2008 and such sums as may be necessary for each 

5 of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.’’. 

6 SEC. 5. RESEARCH IN ADULT EDUCATION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 133(c)(A) of the Edu8 cation Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 

9 9533(c)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘education and’’ be10 fore ‘‘literacy’’. 

11 (b) NATIONAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CEN12 TER.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education 

14 shall direct the Commissioner for Education Re15 search of the National Center for Education Re16 search established pursuant to section 131 of the 

17 Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 

18 9531) to establish a national research and develop19 ment center for adult education and literacy as de20 scribed in section 133(c)(A) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 

21 9533(c)(A)) (as amended by subsection (a)). 

22 (2) PROVISION FOR EXPANSION OF RE23 SEARCH.—If, as of the date of the enactment of this 

24 Act, the Commissioner has established a center for 

25 adult literacy in accordance with section 133(c)(A) 


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1 of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, the 

2 Commissioner shall expand the topic of research of 

3 such center to include adult education, in accordance 

4 with the amendment made by subsection (a). 

5 SEC. 6. IMMIGRANTS TO NEW AMERICANS. 

6 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall transfer 

7 to the Secretary of Education to carry out integrated 

8 English literacy and civics education programs under sec9 tion 244 of the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act 

10 (as added by section 3(f) of this Act) two percent of all 

11 fees collected under section 218(a)(2) of the Immigration 

12 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1188(a)(2)) and two per13 cent of all civil penalties collected under section 

14 274A(e)(4) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(e)(4)). 

15 SEC. 7. CREDIT FOR EMPLOYER PROVIDED ADULT 

16 ENGLISH LITERACY AND BASIC EDUCATION 

17 PROGRAMS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub19 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

20 1986 (relating to business related credits) is amended by 

21 adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 45O. EMPLOYER-PROVIDED ADULT ENGLISH LIT23 ERACY AND BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAMS. 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 38, the 

25 credit determined under this section with respect to any 


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1 employer for the taxable year is an amount equal to 20 

2 percent of qualified education program expenses for the 

3 taxable year. 

4 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The amount of the credit deter5 mined under subsection (a) shall not exceed an amount 

6 equal to the product of $1,000 multiplied by the average 

7 number of full-time employees of the employer for the tax8 able year. 

9 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED EDUCATION PROGRAM EX10 PENSES.—For purposes of this section— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified edu12 cation program expenses’ means expenses paid or in13 curred by an employer to make available qualified 

14 education to employees of the employer, who are in15 dividuals of limited English proficiency or have not 

16 received a secondary school diploma, or its recog17 nized equivalent, or who lack sufficient mastery of 

18 basic educational skills to enable the individuals to 

19 function effectively in society. 

20 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED EDUCATION.—The term ‘quali21 fied education’ means adult education and literacy 

22 activities provided— 

23 ‘‘(A) by an eligible provider which for the 

24 fiscal year ending during the employer’s taxable 

25 year receives Federal funds under section 231 


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1 of the Adult Education and Family Literacy 

2 Act for adult education and literacy activities, 

3 or 

4 ‘‘(B) in curriculum approved by an eligible 

5 agency. 

6 ‘‘(3) OTHER TERMS DEFINED.—The terms ‘in7 dividuals of limited English proficiency’, ‘eligible 

8 provider’, ‘adult education and literacy activities’, 

9 and ‘eligible agency’ shall have the respective mean10 ings given to such terms in the Adult Education and 

11 Family Literacy Act. 

12 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULES.—For purposes of this sec13 tion— 

14 ‘‘(1) FULL-TIME EMPLOYMENT.—An employee 

15 shall be considered full-time if such employee is em16 ployed at least 30 hours per week for 25 or more 

17 calendar weeks in the taxable year. 

18 ‘‘(2) AGGREGATION RULE.—All persons treated 

19 as a single employer under subsection (a) or (b) or 

20 section 52, or subsection (m) or (o) of section 414, 

21 shall be treated as one person. 

22 ‘‘(e) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduction 

23 or credit shall be allowed under any other provision of this 

24 chapter for any amount taken into account in determining 

25 the credit under this section. 


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1 ‘‘(f) ELECTION TO HAVE CREDIT NOT APPLY.—A 

2 taxpayer may elect (at such time and in such manner as 

3 the Secretary may by regulations prescribe) to have this 

4 section not apply for any taxable year.’’. 

5 (b) CREDIT TO BE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS

6 CREDIT.—Subsection (b) of section 38 of such Code (re7 lating to current year business credit) is amended by strik8 ing ‘‘plus’’ at the end of paragraph (30), by striking the 

9 period at the end of paragraph (31) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, 

10 and by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(32) the adult English literacy and basic edu12 cation programs credit determined under section 

13 45O.’’. 

14 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

15 for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

16 of the such Code is amended by adding at the end the 

17 following new item: 

‘‘45O. Employer-provided adult English literacy and basic education programs.’’. 

18 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

19 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

20 December 31, 2007. 

Æ 


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