II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 3148

To provide children with better access to books and other reading materials

and resources from birth to adulthood, including opportunities to own books.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 2 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 22), 2000

Mr. DODD (for himself and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the following bill; which

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education,

Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To provide children with better access to books and other

reading materials and resources from birth to adulthood,

including opportunities to own books.

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 ‘‘Access to Books for

5 Children Act’’ or the ‘‘ABC Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE ELEMENTARY AND SEC2 ONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 1965.

3 Part E of title X of the Elementary and Secondary

4 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8131 et seq.) is amend5 ed to read as follows:

6 ‘‘PART E—ACCESS TO BOOKS FOR CHILDREN

7 (ABC)

8 ‘‘SEC. 10500. PURPOSE.

9 ‘‘It is the purpose of this part to provide children with

10 better access to books and other reading materials and

11 resources from birth to adulthood, including opportunities

12 to own books.

13 ‘‘Subpart 1—Inexpensive Book Distribution Program

14 ‘‘SEC. 10501. INEXPENSIVE BOOK DISTRIBUTION PROGRAM

15 FOR READING MOTIVATION.

16 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary is authorized

17 to enter into a contract with Reading is Fundamental

18 (RIF) (hereafter in this section referred to as ‘the con19 tractor’) to support and promote programs, which include

20 the distribution of inexpensive books to students, that mo21 tivate children to read.

22 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS OF CONTRACT.—Any contract

23 entered into under subsection (a) shall—

24 ‘‘(1) provide that the contractor will enter into

25 subcontracts with local private nonprofit groups or

26 organizations, or with public agencies, under which
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1 each subcontractor will agree to establish, operate,

2 and provide the non-Federal share of the cost of

3 reading motivation programs that include the dis4 tribution of books, by gift, to the extent feasible, or

5 loan, to children from birth through secondary

6 school age, including those in family literacy pro7 grams;

8 ‘‘(2) provide that funds made available to sub9 contractors will be used only to pay the Federal

10 share of the cost of such programs;

11 ‘‘(3) provide that in selecting subcontractors for

12 initial funding, the contractor will give priority to

13 programs that will serve a substantial number or

14 percentage of children with special needs, such as—

15 ‘‘(A) low-income children, particularly in

16 high-poverty areas;

17 ‘‘(B) children at risk of school failure;

18 ‘‘(C) children with disabilities;

19 ‘‘(D) foster children;

20 ‘‘(E) homeless children;

21 ‘‘(F) migrant children;

22 ‘‘(G) children without access to libraries;

23 ‘‘(H) institutionalized or incarcerated chil24 dren; and
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1 ‘‘(I) children whose parents are institu2 tionalized or incarcerated;

3 ‘‘(4) provide that the contractor will provide

4 such technical assistance to subcontractors as may

5 be necessary to carry out the purpose of this section;

6 ‘‘(5) provide that the contractor will annually

7 report to the Secretary the number of, and describe,

8 programs funded under paragraph (3); and

9 ‘‘(6) include such other terms and conditions as

10 the Secretary determines to be appropriate to ensure

11 the effectiveness of such programs.

12 ‘‘(c) RESTRICTION ON PAYMENTS.—The Secretary

13 shall make no payment of the Federal share of the cost

14 of acquiring and distributing books under any contract

15 under this section unless the Secretary determines that

16 the contractor or subcontractor, as the case may be, has

17 made arrangements with book publishers or distributors

18 to obtain books at discounts at least as favorable as dis19 counts that are customarily given by such publisher or dis20 tributor for book purchases made under similar cir21 cumstances in the absence of Federal assistance.

22 ‘‘(d) DEFINITION OF ‘FEDERAL SHARE’.—For the

23 purpose of this section, the term ‘Federal share’ means,

24 with respect to the cost to a subcontractor of purchasing

25 books to be paid under this section, 75 percent of such
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1 costs to the subcontractor, except that the Federal share

2 for programs serving children of migrant or seasonal

3 farmworkers shall be 100 percent of such costs to the sub4 contractor.

5 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the

6 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized

7 to be appropriated $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 and

8 such sums as may be necessary for each of the four suc9 ceeding fiscal years.

10 ‘‘Subpart 2—Local Partnerships for Books

11 ‘‘SEC. 10511. LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS FOR BOOKS.

12 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary is authorized

13 to enter into a contract with a national organization (re14 ferred to in this section as the ‘contractor’) to support and

15 promote programs that—

16 ‘‘(1) pay the Federal share of the cost of dis17 tributing at no cost new books to disadvantaged chil18 dren and families primarily through tutoring, men19 toring, and family literacy programs; and

20 ‘‘(2) promote the growth and strengthening of

21 local partnerships with the goal of leveraging the

22 Federal book distribution efforts and building upon

23 the work of community programs to enhance reading

24 motivation for at-risk children.
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1 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS OF CONTRACT.—Any contract

2 entered into under subsection (a) shall—

3 ‘‘(1) provide that the contractor will provide

4 technical support and initial resources to local part5 nerships to support efforts to provide new books to

6 those tutoring, mentoring, and family literacy pro7 grams reaching disadvantaged children;

8 ‘‘(2) provide that funds made available to sub9 contractors will be used only to pay the Federal

10 share of the cost of such programs;

11 ‘‘(3) provide that the contractor, working in co12 operation with the local partnerships, will give pri13 ority to those tutoring, mentoring, and family lit14 eracy programs that serve children and families with

15 special needs, predominantly those children from

16 economically disadvantaged families and those chil17 dren and families without access to libraries;

18 ‘‘(4) provide that the contractor will annually

19 report to the Secretary regarding the number of

20 books distributed, the number of local partnerships

21 created and supported, the number of community tu22 toring, mentoring, and family literacy programs re23 ceiving books for children, and the number of chil24 dren provided with books; and
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1 ‘‘(5) include such other terms and conditions as

2 the Secretary determines to be appropriate to ensure

3 the effectiveness of the program.

4 ‘‘(c) RESTRICTION ON PAYMENTS.—The Secretary

5 shall require the contractor to ensure that the discounts

6 provided by publishers and distributors for the new books

7 purchased under this section is at least as favorable as

8 discounts that are customarily given by such publishers

9 or distributors for book purchases made under similar cir10 cumstances in the absence of Federal assistance.

11 ‘‘(d) DEFINITION OF FEDERAL SHARE.—For the

12 purpose of this section, the term ‘Federal share’ means,

13 with respect to the cost of purchasing books under this

14 section, 50 percent of the cost to the contractor, except

15 that the Federal share for programs serving children of

16 migrant or seasonal farmworkers shall be 100 percent of

17 such costs to the contractor.

18 ‘‘(e) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The contractor

19 shall provide for programs under this section, either di20 rectly or through private contributions, in cash or in-kind,

21 non-Federal matching funds equal to not less than 50 per22 cent of the amount provided to the contractor under this

23 section.

24 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—For the

25 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized
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1 to be appropriated $10,000,000 for the fiscal year 2001

2 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 4 suc3 ceeding fiscal years.

4 ‘‘Subpart 3—Partnerships for Infants and Young

5 Children

6 ‘‘SEC. 10521. PARTNERSHIPS FOR INFANTS AND YOUNG

7 CHILDREN.

8 ‘‘(a) PROGRAMS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary is au9 thorized to enter into a contract with a national organiza10 tion (referred to in this section as the ‘contractor’) to sup11 port and promote programs that—

12 ‘‘(1) include the distribution of free books to

13 children 5 years of age and younger, including pro14 viding guidance from pediatric clinicians to parents

15 and guardians with respect to reading aloud with

16 their young children; and

17 ‘‘(2) help build the reading readiness skills the

18 children need to learn to read once the children

19 enter school.

20 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS OF CONTRACT.—Any contract

21 entered into under subsection (a) shall—

22 ‘‘(1) provide that the contractor will enter into

23 subcontracts with local private nonprofit groups or

24 organizations or with public agencies under which

25 each subcontractor will agree to establish, operate,
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1 and provide the non-Federal share of the cost of

2 reading motivation programs that include the dis3 tribution of books by gift, to the extent feasible, or

4 loan to children from birth through 5 years of age,

5 including those children in family literacy programs;

6 ‘‘(2) provide that funds made available to sub7 contractors will be used only to pay the Federal

8 share of the cost of such programs;

9 ‘‘(3) provide that in selecting subcontractors for

10 initial funding under this section, the contractor will

11 give priority to programs that will serve a substan12 tial number or percentage of children with special

13 needs, such as—

14 ‘‘(A) low-income children, particularly low15 income children in high-poverty areas;

16 ‘‘(B) children with disabilities;

17 ‘‘(C) foster children;

18 ‘‘(D) homeless children;

19 ‘‘(E) migrant children;

20 ‘‘(F) children without access to libraries;

21 ‘‘(G) children without adequate medical in22 surance; and

23 ‘‘(H) children enrolled in a State medicaid

24 program under title XIX of the Social Security

25 Act;
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1 ‘‘(4) provide that the contractor will provide

2 such technical assistance to subcontractors as may

3 be necessary to carry out this section;

4 ‘‘(5) provide that the contractor will annually

5 report to the Secretary on the effectiveness of the

6 national program and the effectiveness of the local

7 programs funded under this section, including a de8 scription of the national program and of each of the

9 local programs; and

10 ‘‘(6) include such other terms and conditions as

11 the Secretary determines to be appropriate to ensure

12 the effectiveness of such programs.

13 ‘‘(c) RESTRICTION ON PAYMENTS.—The Secretary

14 shall make no payment of the Federal share of the cost

15 of acquiring and distributing books under any contract

16 under this section unless the Secretary determines that

17 the contractor or subcontractor, as the case may be, has

18 made arrangements with book publishers or distributors

19 to obtain books at discounts at least as favorable as dis20 counts that are customarily given by such publisher or dis21 tributor for book purchases made under similar cir22 cumstances in the absence of Federal assistance.

23 ‘‘(d) DEFINITION OF FEDERAL SHARE.—In this sec24 tion with respect to the cost to a subcontractor of pur25 chasing books to be paid under this section, the term ‘Fed-
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1 eral share’ means 50 percent of such costs to the subcon2 tractor, except that the Federal share for programs serv3 ing children of migrant or seasonal farmworkers shall be

4 100 percent of such costs to the subcontractor.

5 ‘‘(e) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The contractor

6 shall provide for programs under this section, either di7 rectly or through private contributions, in cash or in-kind,

8 non-Federal matching funds equal to not less than 50 per9 cent of the amount provided to the contractor under this

10 section.

11 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the

12 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized

13 to be appropriated $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 and

14 such sums as may be necessary for each of the 4 suc15 ceeding fiscal years.

16 ‘‘Subpart 4—Evaluation

17 ‘‘SEC. 10531. EVALUATION.

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall annually

19 conduct an evaluation of—

20 ‘‘(1) programs carried out under this part to

21 assess the effectiveness of such programs in meeting

22 the purpose of this part and the goals of each sub23 part; and
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1 ‘‘(2) the effectiveness of local literacy programs

2 conducted under this part that link children with

3 book ownership and mentoring in literacy.

4 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For

5 purposes of carrying out this section, there is authorized

6 to be appropriated $500,000 for fiscal year 2001, and

7 such sums as may be necessary in each of the 4 succeeding

8 fiscal years.’’.

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