00CS FOR SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 39(HES)                                                                            
01 Relating to improving reading instruction in elementary and secondary schools.                                          
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                              
03  WHEREAS illiteracy is growing at an alarming rate throughout the United States; and                                  
04  WHEREAS 24,000,000 adult Americans cannot read and another 50,000,000 are                                            
05 limited to a fourth or fifth grade reading level; and                                                                   
06  WHEREAS the Reading Excellence Act has been introduced in the United States                                          
07 Congress as S. 1596 and would provide $210,000,000 for research, for teacher training, and                              
08 for individual grants for primary and secondary reading instruction;                                                    
09  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports the enactment of                                           
10 S. 1596, the Reading Excellence Act, and urges the United States Congress to approve the                                
11 measure as soon as possible.                                                                                            
12  Copies of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Paul Coverdell, U.S. Senator                                
13 and prime sponsor of S. 1596, to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank                                      
14 Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of                                  

01 the Alaska delegation in Congress, and to all other members of Congress.