I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1228 
To improve and expand geographic literacy among kindergarten through grade 
12 students in the United States by improving professional development 
programs for kindergarten through grade 12 teachers offered through 
institutions of higher education. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 28, 2007 
Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself and Mr. WICKER) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To improve and expand geographic literacy among kinder-
garten through grade 12 students in the United States 
by improving professional development programs for kin-
dergarten through grade 12 teachers offered through 
institutions of higher education. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Teaching Geography 
is Fundamental Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION. 
Title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1021 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘PART C—GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION 
‘‘SEC. 231. FINDINGS. 
‘‘Congress makes the following findings: 
‘‘(1) Geographic literacy is essential to a well- 
prepared citizenry in the 21st Century because geo-
graphic factors assume greater importance as the 
world’s economies, societies, and political structures 
grow more global in scale. 
‘‘(2) In a recent National Geographic–Roper 9- 
country survey of geographic literacy among young 
adults aged 18 through 24, Americans ranked sec-
ond to last. Only 13 percent of young adults ages 18 
through 24 in the United States were able to cor-
rectly identify Iraq on a map of Asia and the Middle 
East. 
‘‘(3) The economic stature and competitiveness 
of the United States requires increasingly sophisti-
cated levels of geographic knowledge and mastery of 
geographic tools. 
‘‘(4) United States Department of Labor data 
identifies geotechnology as one of the 3 fastest grow-
ing employment fields serving industries such as in-
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surance, banking, real estate, forestry, and agri-
culture as well as Federal, State, and local Govern-
ments. 
‘‘(5) The National Academy of Sciences urged 
creation of a national program to improve the geo-
graphic competence of the United States general 
population and the school age population. 
‘‘(6) Geography is defined as a ‘core academic 
subject’ within the No Child Left Behind Act of 
2001. 
‘‘(7) A recent National Geographic Society sur-
vey found that all 50 States and the District of Co-
lumbia recognize geography in their curricula or con-
tent standards, and an increasing number require 
geography for graduation and include geography in 
mandated statewide assessments. 
‘‘(8) Seven of 10 educators responding to a Na-
tional Geographic survey felt their professional de-
velopment opportunities in geography were inad-
equate and half believed their schools had inad-
equate basic materials for teaching geography. 
‘‘(9) The National Geographic Society has 
spent over 15 years pioneering an extraordinarily ef-
fective national program for improving the teaching 
of 
geography 
by 
engaging 
university 
faculty 
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