I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1008 

To reauthorize the Special Olympics Sport and Empowerment Act of 2004, 

to provide assistance to Best Buddies to support the expansion and 

development of mentoring programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 6, 2013 

Mr. HOYER (for himself, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. 

DELAURO, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. LEE of California, 

Mr. CARNEY, Ms. NORTON, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. CAPUANO, 

Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. LOEBSACK, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. 

ISRAEL, Mr. COHEN, Ms. HAHN, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New 

York, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Ms. EDWARDS, Mr. MARKEY, 

Mr. NADLER, Mr. KEATING, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Ms. WILSON

of Florida, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. CLARKE, Ms. BONAMICI, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. RUSH, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. 

POCAN, and Mr. WEBSTER of Florida) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, 

and in addition to the Committees on Foreign Affairs and Energy and 

Commerce, 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 reauthorize the Special Olympics Sport and Empowerment Act of 2004, to provide assistance to Best Buddies 

to support the expansion and development of mentoring 

programs, and for other purposes. 


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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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Eunice Kennedy Shriver Act’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—REAUTHORIZATION OF SPECIAL OLYMPICS ACT 

Sec. 101. Reauthorization. 

TITLE II—BEST BUDDIES 

Sec. 201. Findings and purpose. 

Sec. 202. Assistance for Best Buddies. 

Sec. 203. Application and annual report. 

Sec. 204. Authorization of appropriations. 

8 TITLE I—REAUTHORIZATION OF 

9 SPECIAL OLYMPICS ACT 

10 SEC. 101. REAUTHORIZATION. 

11 Sections 2 through 5 of the Special Olympics Sport 

12 and Empowerment Act of 2004 (42 U.S.C. 15001 note) 

13 are amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

15 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

16 ‘‘(1) Special Olympics creates the possibilities 

17 of a world where everybody matters, everybody 

18 counts, and every person contributes. 

19 ‘‘(2) The Government and the people of the 

20 United States recognize the dignity and value the 


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1 giftedness of children and adults with intellectual 

2 disabilities. 

3 ‘‘(3) The Government and the people of the 

4 United States recognize that children and adults 

5 with intellectual disabilities experience significant 

6 health disparities, including lack of access to pri7 mary care services and difficulties in accessing com8 munity-based prevention and treatment programs 

9 for chronic diseases. 

10 ‘‘(4) The Government and the people of the 

11 United States are determined to end the isolation 

12 and stigmatization of people with intellectual disabil13 ities, and to ensure that such people are assured of 

14 equal opportunities for community participation, ac15 cess to appropriate health care, and inclusive edu16 cation, and to experience life in a nondiscriminatory 

17 manner. 

18 ‘‘(5) For more than 40 years, Special Olympics 

19 has encouraged skill development, sharing, courage, 

20 and confidence through year-round sports training 

21 and athletic competition for children and adults with 

22 intellectual disabilities. 

23 ‘‘(6) Special Olympics provides year-round 

24 sports training and competitive opportunities to 

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1 abilities in 30 individual and team sports and plans 

2 to expand the benefits of participation through sport 

3 to more than a million additional people with intel4 lectual disabilities within the United States and 

5 worldwide over the next 5 years. 

6 ‘‘(7) Research shows that participation in ac7 tivities involving both people with intellectual disabil8 ities and people without disabilities results in more 

9 positive support for inclusion in society, including in 

10 schools. 

11 ‘‘(8) Special Olympics has demonstrated its 

12 ability to provide a major positive effect on the qual13 ity of life of people with intellectual disabilities, im14 proving their health and physical well-being, building 

15 their confidence and self-esteem, and giving them a 

16 voice to become active and productive members of 

17 their communities. In the United States, for exam18 ple, adults with intellectual disabilities who have par19 ticipated in Special Olympics have a 100 percent 

20 greater chance of being employed than adults with 

21 intellectual disabilities who have not. 

22 ‘‘(9) In society as a whole, Special Olympics 

23 has become a vehicle and platform for reducing prej24 udice, improving public health, promoting inclusion 


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1 efforts in schools and communities, and encouraging 

2 society to value the contributions of all members. 

3 ‘‘(10) The Government of the United States en4 thusiastically supports the Special Olympics move5 ment, recognizes its importance in improving the 

6 lives of people with intellectual disabilities and their 

7 families, and recognizes Special Olympics as a val8 ued and important component of the global commu9 nity. 

10 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purposes of this Act are to— 

11 ‘‘(1) provide support to Special Olympics to in12 crease athlete participation in, and public awareness 

13 about, the Special Olympics movement, including ef14 forts to promote broader community inclusion; 

15 ‘‘(2) dispel negative stereotypes and establish 

16 positive attitudes about people with intellectual dis17 abilities; 

18 ‘‘(3) build community engagement through 

19 sport and related activities; and 

20 ‘‘(4) promote the extraordinary gifts and con21 tributions of people with intellectual disabilities. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR SPECIAL OLYMPICS. 

23 ‘‘(a) EDUCATION ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary of 

24 Education may award grants to, or enter into contracts 


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1 or cooperative agreements with, Special Olympics to carry 

2 out each of the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) Activities to promote the expansion of Spe4 cial Olympics, including activities to increase the full 

5 participation of people with intellectual disabilities in 

6 athletics, sports and recreation, and other inclusive 

7 school and community activities with people without 

8 disabilities. 

9 ‘‘(2) The design and implementation of Special 

10 Olympics education programs, including character 

11 education and volunteer programs that support the 

12 purposes of this Act, that can be integrated into 

13 classroom instruction and community settings, and 

14 are consistent with academic content standards. 

15 ‘‘(b) INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary of 

16 State, acting through the Assistant Secretary of State for 

17 Educational and Cultural Affairs, may award grants to, 

18 or enter into contracts or cooperative agreements with, 

19 Special Olympics to carry out each of the following: 

20 ‘‘(1) Activities to increase the participation of 

21 people with intellectual disabilities in Special Olym22 pics outside of the United States. 

23 ‘‘(2) Activities to improve the awareness outside 

24 of the United States of the abilities of people with 

25 intellectual disabilities and the unique contributions 


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1 that people with intellectual disabilities can make to 

2 society, and to promote active support programs for 

3 sports programs for people with intellectual disabil4 ities. 

5 ‘‘(c) HEALTHY ATHLETES.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health 

7 and Human Services may award grants to, or enter 

8 into contracts or cooperative agreements with, Spe9 cial Olympics for the implementation of on-site 

10 health assessments, screening for health problems, 

11 health education, community-based prevention, data 

12 collection, and referrals to direct health care serv13 ices. 

14 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION.—Activities under para15 graph (1) shall be coordinated with appropriate 

16 health care entities, including private health care 

17 providers, entities carrying out local, State, Federal, 

18 or international programs, and the Department of 

19 Health and Human Services, as applicable. 

20 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION.—Amounts appropriated to carry 

21 out this section shall not be used for direct treatment of 

22 diseases, medical conditions, or mental health conditions. 

23 Nothing in the preceding sentence shall be construed to 

24 limit the use of non-Federal funds by Special Olympics. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 4. APPLICATION AND ANNUAL REPORT. 

2 ‘‘(a) APPLICATION.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a grant, 

4 contract, or cooperative agreement under subsection 

5 (a), (b), or (c) of section 3, Special Olympics shall 

6 submit an application at such time, in such manner, 

7 and containing such information as the Secretary of 

8 Education, Secretary of State, or Secretary of 

9 Health and Human Services, as applicable, may re10 quire. 

11 ‘‘(2) CONTENT.—At a minimum, an application 

12 under this subsection shall contain each of the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(A) ACTIVITIES.—A description of activi15 ties to be carried out with the grant, contract, 

16 or cooperative agreement. 

17 ‘‘(B) MEASURABLE GOALS.—A description 

18 of specific measurable annual benchmarks and 

19 long-term goals and objectives to be achieved 

20 through specified activities carried out with the 

21 grant, contract, or cooperative agreement, 

22 which specified activities shall include, at a 

23 minimum, each of the following activities: 

24 ‘‘(i) Activities to increase the full par25 ticipation of people with intellectual dis26 abilities in athletics, sports and recreation, 


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1 and other inclusive school and community 

2 activities with people without disabilities. 

3 ‘‘(ii) Education programs that dispel 

4 negative stereotypes about people with in5 tellectual disabilities. 

6 ‘‘(iii) Activities to increase the partici7 pation of people with intellectual disabil8 ities in Special Olympics outside of the 

9 United States and promote volunteerism 

10 on behalf of such activities. 

11 ‘‘(iv) Health-related activities as de12 scribed in section 3(c). 

13 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition on receipt of 

15 any funds for a program under subsection (a), (b), 

16 or (c) of section 3, Special Olympics shall agree to 

17 submit an annual report at such time, in such man18 ner, and containing such information as the Sec19 retary of Education, Secretary of State, or Secretary 

20 of Health and Human Services, as applicable, may 

21 require. 

22 ‘‘(2) CONTENT.—At a minimum, each annual 

23 report under this subsection shall describe— 

24 ‘‘(A) the degree to which progress has been 

25 made toward meeting the annual benchmarks 


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1 and long-term goals and objectives described in 

2 the applications submitted under subsection (a); 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(B) demographic data about Special 

5 Olympics participants, including the number of 

6 people with intellectual disabilities served in 

7 each program referred to in paragraph (1). 

8 ‘‘SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated— 

10 ‘‘(1) for grants, contracts, or cooperative agree11 ments under section 3(a), $9,500,000 for fiscal year 

12 2014, and such sums as may be necessary for each 

13 of the 4 succeeding fiscal years; 

14 ‘‘(2) for grants, contracts, or cooperative agree15 ments under section 3(b), $4,500,000 for fiscal year 

16 2014, and such sums as may be necessary for each 

17 of the 4 succeeding fiscal years; and 

18 ‘‘(3) for grants, contracts, or cooperative agree19 ments under section 3(c), $8,500,000 for fiscal year 

20 2014, and such sums as may be necessary for each 

21 of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.’’. 

22 TITLE II—BEST BUDDIES 

23 SEC. 201. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

24 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Best Buddies operates the first national so2 cial and recreational program in the United States 

3 for people with intellectual disabilities. 

4 (2) Best Buddies is dedicated to helping people 

5 with intellectual disabilities become part of main6 stream society. 

7 (3) Best Buddies is determined to end social 

8 isolation for people with intellectual disabilities by 

9 promoting meaningful friendships between them and 

10 their typical peers in order to help increase the self11 esteem, confidence, and abilities of people with and 

12 without intellectual disabilities. 

13 (4) Since 1989, Best Buddies has enhanced the 

14 lives of people with intellectual disabilities by pro15 viding opportunities for 1-to-1 friendships and inte16 grated employment. 

17 (5) Best Buddies is an international organiza18 tion spanning 1,500 middle school, high school, and 

19 college campuses. 

20 (6) Best Buddies implements programs that 

21 will positively impact more than 700,000 individuals 

22 in 2013. 

23 (7) The Best Buddies Middle Schools program 

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1 abilities with other middle school students and sup2 ports 1-to-1 friendships between them. 

3 (8) The Best Buddies High Schools program 

4 matches high school students with intellectual dis5 abilities with other high school students and sup6 ports 1-to-1 friendships between them. 

7 (9) The Best Buddies Colleges program 

8 matches adults with intellectual disabilities with col9 lege students and creates 1-to-1 friendships between 

10 them. 

11 (10) The Best Buddies e-Buddies program sup12 ports e-mail friendships between people with and 

13 without intellectual disabilities. 

14 (11) The Best Buddies Citizens program pairs 

15 adults with intellectual disabilities in 1-to-1 friend16 ships with other people in the corporate and civic 

17 communities. 

18 (12) The Best Buddies Jobs program promotes 

19 the integration of people with intellectual disabilities 

20 into the community through supported employment. 

21 (13) The Best Buddies Ambassadors program 

22 educates and empowers people with intellectual dis23 abilities to be leaders and public speakers in their 

24 schools, communities, and workplaces. Best Buddies 


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1 Ambassadors prepares people with intellectual dis2 abilities to become active agents of change. 

3 (14) Best Buddies Promoters empowers youth 

4 to become advocates for people with intellectual dis5 abilities. Students who take part in Best Buddies 

6 Promoters are introduced to the disability rights 

7 movement and the importance of inclusion through 

8 local awareness events. 

9 (b) PURPOSE.—The purposes of this title are to— 

10 (1) provide support to Best Buddies to increase 

11 participation in and public awareness about Best 

12 Buddies programs that serve people with intellectual 

13 disabilities; 

14 (2) dispel negative stereotypes about people 

15 with intellectual disabilities; and 

16 (3) promote the extraordinary contributions of 

17 people with intellectual disabilities. 

18 SEC. 202. ASSISTANCE FOR BEST BUDDIES. 

19 (a) EDUCATION ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary of Edu20 cation may award grants to, or enter into contracts or co21 operative agreements with, Best Buddies to carry out ac22 tivities to promote the expansion of Best Buddies, includ23 ing activities to increase the participation of people with 

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1 pects of community life, including education and employ2 ment, within the United States. 

3 (b) LIMITATIONS.—Amounts appropriated to carry 

4 out this title may not be used for direct treatment of dis5 eases, medical conditions, or mental health conditions. 

6 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this title 

7 shall be construed to limit the use of non-Federal funds 

8 by Best Buddies. 

9 SEC. 203. APPLICATION AND ANNUAL REPORT. 

10 (a) APPLICATION.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a grant, 

12 contract, or cooperative agreement under section 

13 202(a), Best Buddies shall submit an application at 

14 such time, in such manner, and containing such in15 formation as the Secretary of Education may re16 quire. 

17 (2) CONTENT.—At a minimum, an application 

18 under this subsection shall contain the following: 

19 (A) A description of activities to be carried 

20 out under the grant, contract, or cooperative 

21 agreement. 

22 (B) Information on specific measurable 

23 goals and objectives to be achieved through ac24 tivities carried out under the grant, contract, or 

25 cooperative agreement. 


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1 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of receipt of 

3 any funds under section 202(a), Best Buddies shall 

4 agree to submit an annual report at such time, in 

5 such manner, and containing such information as 

6 the Secretary of Education may require. 

7 (2) CONTENT.—At a minimum, each annual re8 port under this subsection shall describe the degree 

9 to which progress has been made toward meeting the 

10 specific measurable goals and objectives described in 

11 the applications submitted under subsection (a). 

12 SEC. 204. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

13 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec14 retary of Education for grants, contracts, or cooperative 

15 agreements under section 202(a), $4,000,000 for fiscal 

16 year 2014 and such sums as may be necessary for each 

17 of the 4 succeeding fiscal years. 

Æ 


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