IB
Union Calendar No. 221
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2300
[Report No. 106–386]
To allow a State to combine certain funds to improve the academic
achievement of all its students.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 22, 1999
Mr. GOODLING (for himself, Mr. HASTERT, Mr. ARMEY, Mr. DELAY, Mr.
WATTS of Oklahoma, Mr. CASTLE, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. BALLENGER, Mr.
MCKEON, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. SCHAFFER, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr.
HILLEARY, Mr. DEAL of Georgia, Mr. FLETCHER, Mr. TANCREDO, Mr.
DEMINT, Mr. TALENT, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. SALMON, Mr. PETRI, Mr.
MCINTOSH, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mrs.
NORTHUP, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. MILLER of Florida,
Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey, Ms. DUNN, Mrs. MYRICK,
Mr. BAKER, Mr. METCALF, Mr. HILL of Montana, Mr. PITTS, Mr.
SUNUNU, Mr. HERGER, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr.
BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. BLILEY, Mr. GARY MIL-
LER of California, Mr. MCINNIS, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. STUMP,
Mr. FORBES, Mr. SMITH of Michigan, Mr. DICKEY, Mr. PETERSON of
Pennsylvania, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, Mr. HALL of Texas, Mr. HAYES,
Mr. CANNON, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr.
PACKARD, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. EWING, Mr. COOK, Mr.
POMBO, Mr. TERRY, Mr. CHAMBLISS, and Mr. HOSTETTLER) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and
the Workforce
OCTOBER 15, 1999
Additional sponsors: Mrs. CHENOWETH-HAGE, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. REGULA,
Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. BARR of Georgia, Mr. COBURN,
Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. FOSSELLA, Mr. ISAKSON, Mrs. ROU-
KEMA, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. SWEENEY, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, Mrs.
BONO, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. KING, Mr.
HAYWORTH, Mr. WOLF, Mr. COLLINS, Mr. DREIER, Mrs. FOWLER, Mr.
STEARNS, Mr. NETHERCUTT, Mr. WELDON of Florida, Mr. KINGSTON,
Mr. COX, Mr. LUCAS of Oklahoma, Mrs. WILSON, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mr.
WICKER, Mr. RYUN of Kansas, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mr.
CANADY of Florida, Mr. LEWIS of California, Mr. NUSSLE, Mr. SMITH
of Texas, Mr. OSE, Mrs. CUBIN, Mr. RADANOVICH, Mr. HYDE, Mr.
SPENCE, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. LIN-
DER, Mr. VITTER, Mr. LARGENT, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. UPTON, Mr.
BONILLA, Mr. TOOMEY, Mr. KOLBE, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. GOSS, Mr.
CHABOT, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. GOODLATTE, and Mr. OXLEY
OCTOBER 15, 1999
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 22, 1999]
A BILL
To allow a State to combine certain funds to improve the
academic achievement of all its students.
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 ‘‘Academic Achievement
for All Act (Straight A’s Act)’’.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to create options for States
and communities—
(1) to improve the academic achievement of all
students, and to focus the resources of the Federal
Government upon such achievement;
(2) to improve teacher quality and subject mat-
ter mastery, especially in math, reading, and science;
(3) to empower parents and schools to effectively
address the needs of their children and students;
(4) to give States and communities maximum
freedom in determining how to boost academic
achievement and implement education reforms;
(5) to eliminate Federal barriers to imple-
menting effective State and local education programs;
(6) to hold States and communities accountable
for boosting the academic achievement of all students,
especially disadvantaged children; and
(7) to narrow achievement gaps between the low-
est and highest performing groups of students so that
no child is left behind.
SEC. 3. PERFORMANCE AGREEMENT.
(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—A State may, at its op-
tion, execute a performance agreement with the Secretary
under which the provisions of law described in section 4(a)
shall not apply to such State except as otherwise provided
in this Act.
(b) LOCAL INPUT.—States shall provide parents,
teachers, and local schools and districts notice and oppor-
tunity to comment on any proposed performance agreement
prior to submission to the Secretary as provided under gen-
eral State law notice and comment provisions.
(c) APPROVAL
OF PERFORMANCE AGREEMENT.—A
performance agreement submitted to the Secretary under
this section shall be considered as approved by the Secretary
within 60 days after receipt of the performance agreement
unless the Secretary provides a written determination to
the State that the performance agreement fails to satisfy
the requirements of this Act before the expiration of the 60-
day period.
(d) TERMS
OF PERFORMANCE AGREEMENT.—Each
performance agreement executed pursuant to this Act shall
include the following provisions:
(1) TERM.—A statement that the term of the per-
formance agreement shall be 5 years.
(2) 
APPLICATION
OF
PROGRAM
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—A statement that no program requirements
of any program included by the State in the perform-
ance agreement shall apply, except as otherwise pro-
vided in this Act.
(3) LIST.—A list provided by the State of the
programs that it wishes to include in the performance
agreement.
(4) USE
OF
FUNDS
TO
IMPROVE
STUDENT
ACHIEVEMENT.—A 5-year plan describing how the
State intends to combine and use the funds from pro-
grams included in the performance agreement to ad-
vance the education priorities of the State, improve
student achievement, and narrow achievement gaps
between students.
(5) 
ACCOUNTABILITY
REQUIREMENTS.—If 
a
State includes any part of title I of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 in its perform-
ance agreement, the State shall include a certification
that the State has done the following:
(A)(i) developed and implemented the chal-
lenging State content standards, challenging
State 
student 
performance 
standards, 
and
aligned assessments described in section 1111(b)
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
of 1965; or
(ii) developed and implemented a system to
measure the degree of change from one school
year to the next in student performance;
(B) developed and is implementing a state-
wide accountability system that has been or is
reasonably expected to be effective in substan-
tially increasing the numbers and percentages of
all students who meet the State’s proficient and
advanced levels of performance;
(C) established a system under which assess-
ment information may be disaggregated within
each State, local educational agency, and school
by each major racial and ethnic group, gender,
English proficiency status, migrant status, and
by economically disadvantaged students as com-
pared to students who are not economically dis-
advantaged (except that such disaggregation
shall not be required in cases in which the num-
ber of students in any such group is insufficient
to yield statistically reliable information or
would reveal the identity of an individual stu-
dent);
(D) established specific, measurable, numer-
ical performance objectives for student achieve-
ment, including a definition of performance con-
sidered to be proficient by the State on the aca-
demic assessment instruments described under
subparagraph (A);
(E) developed and implemented a statewide
system for holding its local educational agencies
and schools accountable for student performance
that includes—
(i) a procedure for identifying local
educational agencies and schools in need of
improvement, using the assessments de-
scribed under subparagraph (A);
(ii) assisting and building capacity in
local educational agencies and schools iden-
tified as in need of improvement to improve
teaching and learning; and
(iii) implementing corrective actions
after no more than 3 years if the assistance
and capacity building under clause (ii) is
not effective.
(6) PERFORMANCE GOALS.—
(A) STUDENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT.—
Each State shall establish annual student per-
formance goals for the 5-year term of the per-
formance agreement that, at a minimum—
(i) establish a single high standard of
performance for all students;
(ii) take into account the progress of
students from every local educational agen-
cy and school in the State;
(iii) are based primarily on the State’s
challenging content and student perform-
ance standards and assessments described
under paragraph (5)(A);
(iv) include specific annual improve-
ment goals in each subject and grade in-
cluded in the State assessment system,
which must include, at a minimum, read-
ing or language arts and math;
(v) compares the proportions of stu-
dents at the ‘‘basic’’, ‘‘proficient’’, and ‘‘ad-
vanced’’ levels of performance (as defined by
the State) with the proportions of students
at each of the 3 levels in the same grade in
the previous school year;
(vi) includes annual numerical goals
for improving the performance of each
group specified in paragraph (5)(C) and
narrowing gaps in performance between the
highest and lowest performing students in
accordance with section 10(b); and
(vii) requires all students in the State
to make substantial gains in achievement.
(B) ADDITIONAL INDICATORS OF PERFORM-
ANCE.—A State may identify in the performance
agreement any additional indicators of perform-
ance such as graduation, dropout, or attendance
rates.
(C) CONSISTENCY OF PERFORMANCE MEAS-
URES.—A State shall maintain, at a minimum,
the same level of challenging State student per-
formance standards and assessments throughout
the term of the performance agreement.
(7) FISCAL
RESPONSIBILITIES.—An assurance
that the State will use fiscal control and fund ac-
counting procedures that will ensure proper disburse-
ment of, and accounting for, Federal funds paid to
the State under this Act.
(8) CIVIL RIGHTS.—An assurance that the State
will meet the requirements of applicable Federal civil
rights laws.
(9) PRIVATE SCHOOL PARTICIPATION.—
(A) EQUITABLE PARTICIPATION.—An assur-
ance that the State will provide for the equitable
participation of students and professional staff
in private schools.
(B) APPLICATION
OF
BYPASS.—An assur-
ance that sections 14504, 14505, and 14506 of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 8894, 8895, and 8896) shall
apply to all services and assistance provided
under this Act in the same manner as they
apply to services and assistance provided in ac-
cordance with section 14503 of such Act.
(10) STATE FINANCIAL PARTICIPATION.—An as-
surance that the State will not reduce the level of
spending of State funds for elementary and secondary
education during the term of the performance agree-
ment.
(11) ANNUAL REPORT.—An assurance that not
later than 1 year after the execution of the perform-
ance agreement, and annually thereafter, each State
shall disseminate widely to parents and the general
public, submit to the Secretary, distribute to print
and broadcast media, and post on the Internet, a re-
port that includes—
(A) student academic performance data,
disaggregated as provided in paragraph (5)(C);
and
(B) a detailed description of how the State
has used Federal funds to improve student aca-
demic performance and reduce achievement gaps
to meet the terms of the performance agreement.
(e) SPECIAL RULE.—If a State does not include any
part of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965 in its performance agreement, the State shall—
(1) certify that it has developed a system to
measure the academic performance of all students;
and
(2) establish challenging academic performance
goals for such other programs using academic assess-
ment data described in paragraph (5).
(f) AMENDMENT TO PERFORMANCE AGREEMENT.—A
State may submit an amendment to the performance agree-
ment to the Secretary under the following circumstances:
(1) REDUCE SCOPE OF PERFORMANCE AGREE-
MENT.—Not later than 1 year after the execution of
the performance agreement, a State may amend the
performance agreement through a request to withdraw
a program from such agreement. If the Secretary ap-
proves the amendment, the requirements of existing
law shall apply for any program withdrawn from the
performance agreement.
(2) EXPAND SCOPE OF PERFORMANCE AGREE-
MENT.—Not later than 1 year after the execution of
the performance agreement, a State may amend its
performance agreement to include additional pro-
grams and performance indicators for which it will
be held accountable.
(3) APPROVAL OF AMENDMENT.—An amendment
submitted to the Secretary under this subsection shall
be considered as approved by the Secretary within 60
days after receipt of the amendment unless the Sec-
retary provides a written determination to the State
that the performance agreement if amended by the
amendment would fail to satisfy the requirements of
this Act, before the expiration of the 60-day period.
SEC. 4. ELIGIBLE PROGRAMS.
(a) ELIGIBLE PROGRAMS.—The provisions of law re-
ferred to in section 3(a) except as otherwise provided in
subsection (b), are as follows:
(1) Part A of title I of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965.
(2) Part B of title I of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965.
(3) Part C of title I of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965.
(4) Part D of title I of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965.
(5) Part B of title II of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965.
(6) Section 3132 of title III of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
(7) Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965.
(8) Title VI of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965.
(9) Section 307 of the Department of Education
Appropriation Act of 1999.
(10) Comprehensive school reform programs as
authorized under section 1502 of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 and described on
pages 96–99 of the Joint Explanatory Statement of
the Committee of Conference included in House Re-
port 105–390 (Conference Report on the Departments
of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Edu-
cation, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act,
1998).
(11) Part C of title VII of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965.
(12) Title III of the Goals 2000: Educate Amer-
ica Act.
(13) Sections 115 and 116, and parts B and C
of title I of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Technical
Education Act.
(14) Subtitle B of title VII of the Stewart B.
McKinney Homeless Assistance Act.
(b) ALLOCATIONS TO STATES.—A State may choose to
consolidate funds from any or all of the programs described
in subsection (a) without regard to the program require-
ments of the provisions referred to in such subsection, except
that the proportion of funds made available for national
programs and allocations to each State for State and local
use, under such provisions, shall remain in effect unless oth-
erwise provided.
(c) USES OF FUNDS.—Funds made available under
this Act to a State shall be used for any elementary and
secondary educational purposes permitted by State law of
the participating State.
SEC. 5. WITHIN-STATE DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The distribution of funds from pro-
grams included in a performance agreement from a State
to a local educational agency within the State shall be de-
termined by the Governor of the State and the State legisla-
ture. In a State in which the constitution or State law des-
ignates another individual, entity, or agency to be respon-
sible for education, the allocation of funds from programs
included in the performance agreement from a State to a
local educational agency within the State shall be deter-
mined by that individual, entity, or agency, in consultation
with the Governor and State Legislature. Nothing in this
section shall be construed to supersede or modify any provi-
sion of a State constitution or State law.
(b) LOCAL INPUT.—States shall provide parents,
teachers, and local schools and districts notice and oppor-
tunity to comment on the proposed allocation of funds as
provided under general State law notice and comment pro-
visions.
(c) LOCAL HOLD HARMLESS OF PART A TITLE 1
FUNDS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a State that in-
cludes part A of title I of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965 in the performance
agreement, the agreement shall provide an assurance
that each local educational agency shall receive under
the performance agreement an amount equal to or
greater than the amount such agency received under
part A of title I of such Act in the fiscal year pre-
ceding the fiscal year in which the performance agree-
ment is executed.
(2) PROPORTIONATE REDUCTION.—If the amount
made available to the State from the Secretary for a
fiscal year is insufficient to pay to each local edu-
cational agency the amount made available under
part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 to such agency for the pre-
ceding fiscal year, the State shall reduce the amount
each local educational agency receives by a uniform
percentage.
SEC. 6. LOCAL PARTICIPATION.
(a) NONPARTICIPATING STATE.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—If a State chooses not to sub-
mit a performance agreement under this Act, any
local educational agency in such State is eligible, at
its option, to submit to the Secretary a performance
agreement in accordance with this section.
(2) AGREEMENT.—The terms of a performance
agreement between an eligible local educational agen-
cy and the Secretary shall specify the programs to be
included in the performance agreement, as agreed
upon by the State and the agency, from the list under
section 4(a).
(b) STATE APPROVAL.—When submitting a perform-
ance agreement to the Secretary, an eligible local edu-
cational agency described in subsection (a) shall provide
written documentation from the State in which such agency
is located that it has no objection to the agency’s proposal
for a performance agreement.
(c) APPLICATION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in this
section, and to the extent applicable, the requirements
of this Act shall apply to an eligible local educational
agency that submits a performance agreement in the
same manner as the requirements apply to a State.
(2) EXCEPTIONS.—The following provisions shall
not apply to an eligible local educational agency:
(A) WITHIN STATE DISTRIBUTION FORMULA
NOT APPLICABLE.—The formula for the alloca-
tion of funds under section 5 shall not apply.
(B) STATE SET ASIDE SHALL NOT APPLY.—
The State set aside for administrative funds in
section 7 shall not apply.
SEC. 7. LIMITATIONS ON STATE AND LOCAL EDUCATIONAL
AGENCY ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDITURES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided under
subsection (b), a State that includes part A of title I of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 in
the performance agreement may use not more than 1 per-
cent of such total amount of funds allocated to such State
under the programs included in the performance agreement
for administrative purposes.
(b) EXCEPTION.—A State that does not include part
A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965 in the performance agreement may use not more
than 3 percent of the total amount of funds allocated to
such State under the programs included in the performance
agreement for administrative purposes.
(c) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—A local edu-
cational agency participating in this Act under a perform-
ance agreement under section 6 may not use for adminis-
trative purposes more than 4 percent of the total amount
of funds allocated to such agency under the programs in-
cluded in the performance agreement.
SEC. 8. PERFORMANCE REVIEW.
(a) MID-TERM PERFORMANCE REVIEW.—If, during
the 5 year term of the performance agreement, student
achievement significantly declines for 3 consecutive years
in the academic performance categories established in the
performance agreement, the Secretary may, after notice and
opportunity for a hearing, terminate the agreement
(b) FAILURE TO MEET TERMS.—If at the end of the
5-year term of the performance agreement a State has not
substantially met the performance goals submitted in the
performance agreement, the Secretary shall, after notice and
an opportunity for a hearing, terminate the performance
agreement and the State shall be required to comply with
the program requirements, in effect at the time of termi-
nation, for each program included in the performance
agreement.
(c) PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO IMPROVE STUDENT
PERFORMANCE.—If a State has made no progress toward
achieving its performance goals by the end of the term of
the agreement, the Secretary may reduce funds for State
administrative costs for each program included in the per-
formance agreement by up to 50 percent for each year of
the 2-year period following the end of the term of the per-
formance agreement.
SEC. 9. RENEWAL OF PERFORMANCE AGREEMENT.
(a) NOTIFICATION.—A State that wishes to renew its
performance agreement shall notify the Secretary of its re-
newal request not less than 6 months prior to the end of
the term of the performance agreement.
(b) RENEWAL REQUIREMENTS.—A State that has met
or has substantially met its performance goals submitted
in the performance agreement at the end of the 5-year term
may reapply to the Secretary to renew its performance
agreement for an additional 5-year period. Upon the com-
pletion of the 5-year term of the performance agreement or
as soon thereafter as the State submits data required under
the agreement, the Secretary shall renew, for an additional
5-year term, the performance agreement of any State that
has met or has substantially met its performance goals.
SEC. 10. ACHIEVEMENT GAP REDUCTION REWARDS.
(a) CLOSING THE GAP REWARD FUND.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—To reward States that make
significant progress in eliminating achievement gaps
by raising the achievement levels of the lowest per-
forming students, the Secretary shall set aside suffi-
cient funds from the Fund for the Improvement of
Education under part A of title X of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to grant a re-
ward to States that meet the conditions set forth in
subsection (b) by the end of their 5-year performance
agreement.
(2) REWARD AMOUNT.—The amount of the re-
ward referred to in paragraph (1) shall be not less
than 5 percent of funds allocated to the State during
the first year of the performance agreement for pro-
grams included in the agreement.
(b) CONDITIONS OF PERFORMANCE REWARD.—Subject
to paragraph (3), a State is eligible to receive a reward
under this section as follows:
(1) A State is eligible for such an award if the
State reduces by not less than 25 percent, over the 5-
year term of the performance agreement, the difference
between the percentage of highest and lowest per-
forming groups of students that meet the State’s defi-
nition of ‘‘proficient’’ as referenced in section
1111(b)(1)(D)(i)(II) of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965.
(2) A State is eligible for such an award if a
State increases the proportion of 2 or more groups of
students under section 3(d)(5)(C) that meet State pro-
ficiency standards by 25 percent.
(3) A State shall receive such an award if the
following requirements are met:
(A) CONTENT AREAS.—The reduction in the
achievement gap or approvement in achievement
shall include not less than 2 content areas, one
of which shall be mathematics or reading.
(B) GRADES TESTED.—The reduction in the
achievement gap or improvement in achievement
shall occur in at least 2 grade levels.
(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Student achievement
gaps shall not be considered to have been reduced in cir-
cumstances where the average academic performance of the
highest performing quintile of students has decreased.
SEC. 11. STRAIGHT A’S PERFORMANCE REPORT.
The Secretary shall make the annual State reports de-
scribed in section 3 available to the House Committee on
Education and the Workforce and the Senate Committee on
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions not later than 60
days after the Secretary receives the report.
SEC. 12. APPLICABILITY OF TITLE XIV OF THE ELEMENTARY
AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 1965.
To the extent that provisions of title XIV of the Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 are incon-
sistent with this Act, this Act shall be construed as super-
seding such provisions.
SEC. 13. APPLICABILITY OF GENERAL EDUCATION PROVI-
SIONS ACT.
To the extent that the provisions of the General Edu-
cation Provisions Act are inconsistent with this Act, this
Act shall be construed as superseding such provisions, ex-
cept where relating to civil rights, withholdling of funds and
enforcement authority, and family educational and privacy
rights.
SEC. 14. APPLICABILITY TO HOME SCHOOLS.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect home
schools whether or not a home school is treated as a private
school or home school under State law.
SEC. 15. GENERAL PROVISIONS REGARDING NON-RECIPI-
ENT, NON-PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to permit, allow,
encourage, or authorize any Federal control over any aspect
of any private, religious, or home school, whether or not
a home school is treated as a private school or home school
under State law.
SEC. 16. DEFINITIONS.
For the purpose of this Act:
(1) ALL
STUDENTS.—The term ‘‘all students’’
means all students attending public schools or charter
schools that are participating in the State’s account-
ability and assessment system.
(2) ALL
SCHOOLS.—The term ‘‘all schools’’
means all schools that are participating in the State’s
accountability and assessment system.
(3) LOCAL
EDUCATIONAL
AGENCY.—The term
‘‘local educational agency’’ has the same meaning
given such term in section 14101 of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
8801).
(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of Education.
(5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the
50 States, the District of Columbia, the Common-
wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the United States Vir-
gin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar-
iana Islands, and American Samoa.