Research Excellence and Advancements for Dyslexia Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. WESTERMAN. I thank the chairman for his leadership on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight in support of the READ Act. I rise as the husband of a special education teacher and not just any special education teacher, one that has a real passion for helping children with reading disabilities and one that has seen firsthand the successes that happen when research-based interventions are used with children with dyslexia.

Dyslexia is the most common learning disability. It affects more than 90 percent of all individuals identified as learning disabled. It is estimated to affect one out of six U.S. schoolchildren.

This learning disability causes difficulty with reading comprehension, math, and a variety of other subject areas. Students with dyslexia should receive research-based instruction so they have the best opportunity to learn and succeed in the 21st century. That is why I cosponsored the READ Act of 2015, a bill that requires the National Science Foundation to fund dyslexia research.

NSF-supported research will strengthen practical interventions, including early identification of dyslexia, development of curricula, and other tools to help dyslexics. It will help identify scalable models for implementing dyslexia programs in schools.

The READ Act does not increase Federal spending. It authorizes multidirectorate, merit-reviewed, and competitively awarded dyslexia projects using funds appropriated for the NSF Research and Related Activities Account and the education and human resources directorate. This bill is good for students, it is good for educators, and it is good for America.

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