I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6152 
To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide assistance for 
developing countries to promote quality basic education and to establish 
the achievement of universal basic education in all developing countries 
as an objective of United States foreign assistance policy, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 21, 2006 
Mrs. LOWEY (for herself, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. EMANUEL, and Ms. WATSON) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
International Relations 
A BILL 
To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide 
assistance for developing countries to promote quality 
basic education and to establish the achievement of uni-
versal basic education in all developing countries as an 
objective of United States foreign assistance policy, and 
for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Education for All Act 
of 2006’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Throughout the world, an alarming number 
of children are not receiving primary education. At 
least 115,000,000 children of primary school age are 
not in school, and 3⁄5 of such children are girls. 
Worldwide, half of school age children who start pri-
mary school drop out. At least 70 countries are un-
likely to achieve the goal of 100 percent of children 
completing primary school by 2015. 
(2) The final report of the National Commis-
sion on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States 
(hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘‘Re-
port’’) concluded that education that teaches toler-
ance, the dignity and value of each individual, and 
respect for different beliefs must be a key element 
in any global strategy to eliminate terrorism. 
(3) Extending the vision of educational oppor-
tunity described in the Report to all developing 
countries is critical to achieve the United Nations 
Millennium Development Goals and prevent the rise 
of violent extremism worldwide. 
(4) The Report concluded that the United 
States Government must offer an example of moral 
leadership in the world and offer parents and their 
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children a vision of the future that emphasizes indi-
vidual educational and economic opportunity. 
(5) At the World Education Forum held in 
Dakar, Senegal in 2000, the United States joined 
more than 180 other nations in committing to the 
goal of universal basic education by 2015. Universal 
completion of primary school and eliminating gender 
disparity in all levels of education not later than 
2015 are part of the United Nations Millennium De-
velopment Goals. 
(6) According to the 2002 United Nations De-
velopment Programme Arab Human Development 
Report, 10,000,000 children between the ages of 6 
through 15 in the Arab world do not attend school, 
and 2⁄3 of the 65,000,000 illiterate adults in the 
Arab world are women. At all educational stages, the 
most important challenge facing education in the 
Arab world is the declining quality of such edu-
cation. 
(7) The Report noted that the United Nations 
has rightly equated ‘‘literacy as freedom’’ and that 
the international community is moving toward set-
ting a goal of reducing by half the illiteracy rate in 
the Middle East by 2010, through the implementa-
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tion of education programs targeting women and 
girls and supporting programs for adult literacy. 
(8) Basic education has been demonstrated to 
be fundamental to development. No country has 
reached sustained economic growth without achiev-
ing near universal primary education. Education re-
duces poverty and inequality, and lays the founda-
tion for sound governance, civic participation, and 
strong institutions. 
(9) Investing in girls’ education delivers sub-
stantial returns not only in educational attainment 
but also in increasing women’s incomes, delaying the 
start of sexual activity, reducing infant mortality, in-
creasing women’s political participation, and spur-
ring economic growth. 
(10) The Report concluded that ensuring edu-
cational opportunity is essential to the efforts of the 
United States to defeat global terrorism and rec-
ommended that the United States Government 
‘‘should offer to join with other nations in gener-
ously supporting [spending funds] . . . directly on 
building and operating primary and secondary 
schools in those Muslim states that commit to sen-
sibly investing financial resources in public edu-
cation.’’. 
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(11) Credible estimates indicate that at least an 
additional $7,000,000,000 to $10,000,000,000 per 
year of external development assistance is necessary 
for developing countries to achieve universal basic 
education by 2015. 
SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE TO ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL BASIC EDU-
CATION. 
The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 
et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 105 the fol-
lowing new section: 
‘‘SEC. 105A. UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION. 
‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to 
ensure that the United States provides the resources and 
leadership to ensure a successful international effort to 
provide all children with a quality basic education in order 
to achieve the goal of universal basic education by 2015 
agreed to at the World Education Forum held in Dakar, 
Senegal in 2000. 
‘‘(b) POLICY.—It is the policy of the United States 
to work with foreign countries and international organiza-
tions to increase the global commitment to achieving uni-
versal basic education— 
‘‘(1) to assist developing countries committed to 
serious reforms to provide all children with a quality 
elementary education and secondary education; and 
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