HELSS Legislation

[Samantha Rockwood]

here is the Health, Education, Labor and Social Services Committee Docket

[Samantha Rockwood]

HELSS: Firearm Safety Promotion Act

Mr. WILLIS, for himself, introduces

A BILL

To promote safe gun handling in our nation's schools to cut down on accidents.

BE IT ENACTED by the House of Representatives and the Senate of the United States,

Section I. Short Title

This Act may be cited as the "Firearm Safety Promotion Act."

Section II. Findings

The Congress finds that-

(A.) Youth education programs, especially those provided by non-profit organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America, can and do significantly reduce the number of gun accidents where youth are involved.

(B.) Safe gun handling education is a lesson that will lead to proper treatment of firearms for youth and is an education that will last well into adulthood.

(C.) The National Rifle Association has already developed a lesson plan for schools to use which promotes safe gun handling as well as what to do in the event that a youth finds a loaded gun; this lesson plan is the same as the one the Boy Scouts of America uses.

(D.) Gun safety courses and the NRA Eddie the Eagle program do NOT promote gun usage or teach people how to shoot better, but merely talk about safety and prevention of accidents.

Section III. Provisions

(A.) The Federal government shall provide grants to the states that add the NRA Eddie the Eagle gun safety program to their public schools, equal to the value of 80% of the costs of the program.

(B.) States may opt out of the NRA program if and only if they offer a similar firearm safety education in their public schools.

(C.) The Federal government shall offer grants to private schools that apply in order to cover costs for the NRA Eddie the Eagle gun safety program equal to the value of 55% of the program. Private schools are not required to offer gun safety education courses.

Section IV. Enactment

This act shall be enacted immediately following its Constitutional passage.

PES: This bill will allow for gun safety courses in schools.

[Samantha Rockwood]

HELSS: Preservation of Social Security Act

Mr. ROTTNEK submits for himself,

A Bill

To secure the blessings of prosperity for future generations by preserving the Social Security system without increasing taxes.

Be it enacted by the House of Representatives and the Senate of the United States,

Section 1: Title

The title of this bill shall be; “Preservation of Social Security Act,”

Section 2: Findings

Social Security is a long established system that creates stability within the fixed income community,

Social Security in the current form will have a negative cash flow in 2020 and will be completely bankrupt in 2040 according to current projections,

Creating a sustainable benefits system is necessary to preserving future benefits,

Indexing benefits to inflation would reduce the growth rate of benefits to cover the entire shortfall without harming current benefits,

Section 3: Provisions

The growth rate of Social Security benefits shall be indexed to inflation rather than wages,

Section 4: Enactment

This bill will shall be enacted upon the President’s signature.

Section 5: Plain English Summary

Social Security is preserved through adjustment of the growth rate index. Current benefits will not change, but future benefits will grow at a slower rate in order to protect against bankruptcy of the Social Security Trust Fund.

[Samantha Rockwood]

HELSS: Adolescent Literacy Act

A BILL

To promote adolescent literacy

Section 1. Short Title.
(1) This act may be cited as the "Adolescent Literacy Act".

Section 2. Findings.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) Only 68 percent of high school students graduate on time with a diploma, meaning that every year 1,300,000 students fail to graduate from high school.

(2) In 2004 alone, these 1,300,000 non graduates cost the Nation more than $325,000,000,000 in lost wages, taxes, and productivity over their lifetimes.

(3) High school graduation rates for low-income students and students of colour hover around 50 percent, as do graduation rates for students in urban school districts. Graduation rates for English language learners are particularly low.

(4) Only 34 percent of high school students graduate with the skills the students need to succeed in college or the workplace.

(5) Community colleges alone pay $1,400,000,000 a year to provide remedial education to students under 25 who should have learned these basic skills in secondary school.

(6) Seventy-one percent of 8th graders read below the proficient level on the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress, indicating that students in middle schools and high schools struggle to graduate because their literacy achievement is alarmingly low.

(7) Between 1971 and 2004, the reading levels of America's 17-year-old adolescents showed no improvement at all.

(8) In a typical high-poverty urban school, approximately half of incoming 9th grade students read at a 6th or 7th grade level, and among low-income 8th graders, just 15 percent read at a proficient level.

(9) On average, African-American and Hispanic 12th grade students read at the same level as White 8th grade students.

(10) Secondary school students' ability to read complex texts is strongly predictive of the students' performance in college mathematics and science courses.

(11) The 25 fastest-growing professions have far greater than average literacy demands, while the fastest-declining professions have lower than average literacy demands.

(12) About 40 percent of secondary school graduates lack the literacy skills employers seek.

(13) Students need literacy instruction at all grade levels and in every subject in order to improve their achievement and school completion.

(14) Researchers are in strong consensus as to a number of specific steps that can be taken to improve literacy instruction in grades 4 through 12.

(15) Lessons from the Alabama Reading Initiative, the Washington State Reading Initiative, and other successful adolescent literacy reforms can form the basis for the expansion of adolescent literacy efforts, and, in so doing, generate additional information on effective practices that can be widely disseminated and applied.

Section 3. Provisions.
(1) The sum of $200 million is hereby appropriated to a fund to be placed under the direction of the Secretary of Education, hereafter referred in this act as "the fund".

(2) The Secretary shall use the fund to award, upon application, grants to school districts within the United States to be used to promote literacy among adolescents, or those between the ages of 12 and 18 inclusive.

(3) The Secretary shall discriminate in favour of such programs as:
(i) Are from low-income areas
(ii) Are from areas which statistically display high amounts of young adult or adolescent activity
(iii) Are from areas where minority groups are significantly represented
(iv) Are able to demonstrate, with social or statistical science, why they are likely to succeed where previous programs have failed.
(v) Are from areas with a high amount of post-graduation exodus

Section 4. Enactment.
(1) This bill shall go into effect immediately upon Constitutional passage.

Section 5. Plain English Summary

This bill shall appropriate 200 million USD under the direction of the Secretary of Education to invest in Adolescent Literacy.