III 118th CONGRESS 1st Session S. RES. 430 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES October 25, 2023 Mr. Manchin (for himself, Ms. Collins , Mrs. Capito , and Mr. King ) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to RESOLUTION Designating October 20, 2023, as National Early Childhood Literacy Awareness Day .

Whereas many children from families with low incomes begin school already far behind children from families with higher incomes; Whereas research shows that children from families with low incomes are less likely to have interactions that are critical for language development, including— (1) being read to or spoken to regularly; (2) having access to books; (3) having a literacy-rich environment; and (4) accessing high-quality early childhood education programs; Whereas language development is an important precursor to literacy; Whereas access to high-quality early childhood education programs can support early childhood language development and literacy; Whereas, as early as 3 years of age, the vocabulary of a child can predict the future third-grade reading proficiency of the child; Whereas, during the first 3 years of life, children from families with low-incomes can hear as many as 30,000,000 fewer words than children from more affluent families; Whereas, in 2022, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (referred to in this preamble as NAEP ) reported that— (1) 66 percent of fourth-grade public school students nationally performed below the NAEP proficient level in reading; and (2) 37 percent of fourth-grade public school students nationally performed below the NAEP basic level in reading; and Whereas awareness of early childhood literacy issues must be heightened to encourage greater support to help children achieve reading proficiency: Now, therefore, be it