A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

FOR RELEASE
Contact: Pam Hughes
(202) 401-3069

June 26,1998

 In 1996, President Clinton issued a challenge to Americans from all walks of life to do their part to help our children learn to read. Thousands of Americans have answered the America Reads Challenge: parents, teachers, volunteers, librarians, business people, college students, community groups, and even the children themselves.

 But where is the Congress? After agreeing with the President in November of 1997 that helping our children learn to read was a national priority, Congress set a self-imposed deadline of July 1, 1998, to pass legislation. Today, Congress flunked its own test and left for vacation.

 Congress has squandered over 200 days and denied American children over $200 million to support greater achievement in reading. They've turned their backs on the teachers, parents and volunteers who are working before school, during class, after-school, evenings, on Saturdays and during the summer, with children whose futures hinge on mastery of reading. By missing its own deadline, Congress has missed an opportunity to provide vital support to these community efforts.

 I hope members of Congress can make good on their pledge to pass a literacy bill with adequate funding when they return from recess. With four out of ten fourth-graders unable to read at grade level, this is a needed investment that would reap educational and economic benefits for years to come. We stand ready to work together to pass this legislation and truly put children ahead of politics.

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