IV 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 721 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that bolstering literacy 
among African-American and Hispanic men is an urgent national priority. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 29, 2012 
Mr. CLARKE of Michigan (for himself and Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina) sub-
mitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
Education and the Workforce 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
bolstering literacy among African-American and Hispanic 
men is an urgent national priority. 
Whereas literacy is a vital skill for survival in the United 
States; 
Whereas literacy is an essential tool for exercising active citi-
zenship and holding government officials accountable; 
Whereas universal literacy is a necessity for United States 
competitiveness in the global economy; 
Whereas illiteracy is highly correlated with imprisonment, 
given that 56 percent of United States adults in prison 
or jail in 2008 were deemed to have very low literacy 
skills according to the National Commission on Adult 
Literacy; 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
21:10 Jul 03, 2012
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR721.IH
HR721
srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
•HRES 721 IH 
Whereas illiteracy can be considered a major factor giving 
rise to the phenomenon commonly referred to as the 
school-to-prison-pipeline; 
Whereas according to the most recent national assessment of 
adult literacy, 34,000,000 adults function at below basic 
literacy levels; 
Whereas according to the Department of Education, 20 per-
cent of African-Americans and 39 percent of Hispanics 
function at below basic literacy levels; 
Whereas only 47 percent of African-American males and 44 
percent of Hispanic males graduate from high school; 
Whereas 45 percent of adult literacy students at community- 
based organizations are prime working age people be-
tween the ages of 25 and 44; 
Whereas according to a July 2006 report in Stanford Maga-
zine, an increase in the percentage of poverty-stricken 
students in a school is associated with the decline in per-
formance on literacy tests; 
Whereas illiteracy is an intergenerational problem, as the 
children of illiterate parents are less likely to receive the 
support they need to attain reading proficiency; 
Whereas Federal, State, municipal, and community-based lit-
eracy programs have been able to reach a small propor-
tion of the total illiterate population; and 
Whereas 74 percent of community-based organizations fo-
cused on adult literacy have waiting lists: Now, therefore, 
be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
21:10 Jul 03, 2012
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HR721.IH
HR721
srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
•HRES 721 IH 
(1) recognizes illiteracy as a national crisis, 
which disproportionately affects African-American 
and Hispanic males; 
(2) affirms the goal of reducing adult illiteracy 
by 50 percent in these target populations and by 25 
percent throughout the United States in the coming 
decade; 
(3) encourages local, State, and Federal agen-
cies as well as the private sector to take on literacy 
promotion initiatives in an effort to resolve this cri-
sis; 
(4) encourages Federal agencies and private 
firms to support community-based organization pro-
grams and the use of trained volunteers to work 
with the target populations; and 
(5) encourages the establishment of local part-
nerships among service providers to better meet the 
needs of adult learners. 
Æ 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
21:10 Jul 03, 2012
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\HR721.IH
HR721
srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS