I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4898 

To provide assistance to Best Buddies to support the expansion and 

development of mentoring programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 19, 2007 

Mr. HOYER (for himself and Mr. BLUNT) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To provide assistance to Best Buddies to support the expansion and development of mentoring 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 ‘‘Best Buddies Em5 powerment for People with Intellectual Disabilities Act of 

6 2007’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

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


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1 (1) Best Buddies is the first national social and 

2 recreational program in the United States for people 

3 with mental retardation. 

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 establishing meaningful friendships with their non10 disabled peers in order to help increase the self-es11 teem, 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 one-to-one friendships and 

16 integrated employment. 

17 (5) Best Buddies is an international organiza18 tion spanning 1300 middle school, high school, and 

19 college campuses. 

20 (6) The Best Buddies organization implements 

21 programs that will positively impact more than 

22 350,000 individuals this year and expect to be able 

23 to reach 500,000 people by 2010. 


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1 (7) The Best Buddies Jobs program continues 

2 the integration of people with intellectual disabilities 

3 into the community through supported employment. 

4 (8) The Best Buddies Citizens program pairs 

5 people with mental retardation in one-to-one friend6 ships with other individuals in the corporate and 

7 civic communities. 

8 (9) The Best Buddies Colleges program pairs 

9 people with mental retardation in one-to-one friend10 ships with college students. 

11 (10) The Best Buddies High Schools program 

12 pairs students with mental retardation in one-to-one 

13 friendships with high school students. 

14 (11) The Best Buddies e-Buddies program cre15 ates respective e-mail friendships between people 

16 with and without intellectual disabilities. 

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

18 (1) provide support to Best Buddies to increase 

19 participation in and public awareness about Best 

20 Buddies programs that serve people with intellectual 

21 disabilities; 

22 (2) dispel negative stereotypes about people 

23 with intellectual disabilities; and 

24 (3) promote the extraordinary gifts of people 

25 with intellectual disabilities. 


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1 SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR BEST BUDDIES. 

2 (a) EDUCATION ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary of Edu3 cation may award grants to, or enter into contracts or co4 operative agreements with, Best Buddies to carry out the 

5 following: 

6 (1) Activities to promote the expansion of Best 

7 Buddies, including activities to increase the partici8 pation of individuals with intellectual disabilities 

9 within the United States. 

10 (2) The design and implementation of Best 

11 Buddies education and outreach programs, including 

12 character education and volunteer programs that 

13 support the purposes of this Act, that can be inte14 grated into classroom instruction and are consistent 

15 with academic content standards. 

16 (b) LIMITATIONS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts appropriated to 

18 carry out this Act may not be used for direct treat19 ment of diseases, medical conditions, or mental 

20 health conditions. 

21 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES.—Not more 

22 than three percent of amounts appropriated to carry 

23 out this Act may be used for administrative activi24 ties. 


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1 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

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

3 by Best Buddies. 

4 SEC. 4. APPLICATION AND ANNUAL REPORT. 

5 (a) APPLICATION.— 

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

7 contract, or cooperative agreement under section 

8 3(a), Best Buddies shall submit an application at 

9 such time, in such manner, and containing such in10 formation as the Secretary of Education or Sec11 retary of State, as applicable, may require. 

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

13 under this subsection shall contain the following: 

14 (A) A description of activities to be carried 

15 out with the grant, contract, or cooperative 

16 agreement. 

17 (B) Information on specific measurable 

18 goals and objectives to be achieved through ac19 tivities carried out with the grant, contract, or 

20 cooperative agreement. 

21 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

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

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

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

25 such manner, and containing such information as 


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1 the Secretary of Education or Secretary of State, as 

2 applicable, may require. 

3 (2) CONTENT.—At a minimum, each annual re4 port under this subsection shall describe the degree 

5 to which progress has been made toward meeting the 

6 specific measurable goals and objectives described in 

7 the applications submitted under subsection (a). 

8 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 There are authorized to be appropriated for grants, 

10 contracts, or cooperative agreements under section 3(a), 

11 $10,000,000 to the Secretary of Education for fiscal year 

12 2009, and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 

13 four succeeding fiscal years. 

14 SEC. 6. BUDGET NEUTRAL. 

15 The following provisions of law are hereby repealed: 

16 (1) Section 5523 of the Elementary and Sec17 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7265b). 

18 (2) Section 5533 of the Elementary and Sec19 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7267b). 

Æ 


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