pointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate.

(B) COMPOSITION.-The Board shall be comprised of individuals who are not otherwise officers or employees of the Federal Government and who are representative of entities such as

(i) literacy organizations and providers of literacy services, including nonprofit providers, providers of English literacy programs and services, social service organizations, and eligible providers receiving assistance under this subtitle;

(ii) businesses that have demonstrated interest in literacy programs;

(iii) literacy students, including literacy students with disabilities;

(iv) experts in the area of literacy research;
(v) State and local governments;

(vi) State Directors of adult education; and

(vii) representatives of employees, including representatives of labor organizations.

(2) DUTIES.-The Board shall

(A) make recommendations concerning the appointment of the Director and staff of the Institute;

(B) provide independent advice on the operation of the Institute; and

(C) receive reports from the Interagency Group and the Director.

(3) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.-Except as otherwise provided, the Board established by this subsection shall be subject to the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).

(4) APPOINTMENTS.

(A) IN GENERAL.-Each member of the Board shall be appointed for a term of 3 years, except that the initial terms for members may be 1, 2, or 3 years in order to establish a rotation in which one-third of the members are selected each year. Any such member may be appointed for not more than 2 consecutive terms.

(B) VACANCIES.-Any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring before the expiration of the term for which the member's predecessor was appointed shall be appointed only for the remainder of that term. A member may serve after the expiration of that member's term until a successor has taken office.

(5) QUORUM.-A majority of the members of the Board shall constitute a quorum but a lesser number may hold hearings. Any recommendation of the Board may be passed only by a majority of the Board's members present.

(6) ELECTION OF OFFICERS.-The Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the Board shall be elected by the members of the Board. The term of office of the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson shall be 2 years.

(7) MEETINGS.-The Board shall meet at the call of the Chairperson or a majority of the members of the Board. (f) GIFTS, BEQUESTS, AND DEVISES.—

(1) IN GENERAL.-The Institute may accept, administer, and use gifts or donations of services, money, or property, whether real or personal, tangible or intangible.

(2) RULES.-The Board shall establish written rules setting forth the criteria to be used by the Institute in determining whether the acceptance of contributions of services, money, or property whether real or personal, tangible or intangible, would reflect unfavorably upon the ability of the Institute or any employee to carry out the responsibilities of the Institute or employee, or official duties, in a fair and objective manner, or would compromise the integrity or the appearance of the integrity of the Institute's programs or any official involved in those programs.

(g) MAILS.-The Board and the Institute may use the United States mails in the same manner and under the same conditions as other departments and agencies of the United States.

(h) STAFF.-The Interagency Group, after considering recommendations made by the Board, shall appoint and fix the pay of a Director.

(i) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE LAWS.-The Director and staff of the Institute may be appointed without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service, and may be paid without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of that title relating to classification and General Schedule pay rates, except that an individual so appointed may not receive pay in excess of the annual rate of basic pay payable for level IV of the Executive Schedule.

(j) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.-The Institute may procure temporary and intermittent services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code.

(k) REPORT.-The Institute shall submit a report biennially to the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the Senate. Each report submitted under this subsection shall include

(1) a comprehensive and detailed description of the Institute's operations, activities, financial condition, and accomplishments in the field of literacy for the period covered by the report;

(2) a description of how plans for the operation of the Institute for the succeeding 2 fiscal years will facilitate achievement of the goals of the Institute and the goals of the literacy programs within the Department of Education, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Health and Human Services; and

(3) any additional minority, or dissenting views submitted by members of the Board.

(1) FUNDING.-Any amounts appropriated to the Secretary, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, or any other department that participates in the Institute for purposes that the Institute is authorized to perform under this section may be provided to the Institute for such purposes.

SEC. 243. [20 U.S.C. 9253] NATIONAL LEADERSHIP ACTIVITIES.

The Secretary shall establish and carry out a program of national leadership activities to enhance the quality of adult education and literacy programs nationwide. Such activities may include the following:

(1) Technical assistance, including

(A) assistance provided to eligible providers in developing and using performance measures for the improvement of adult education and literacy activities, including family literacy services;

(B) assistance related to professional development activities, and assistance for the purposes of developing, improving, identifying, and disseminating the most successful methods and techniques for providing adult education and literacy activities, including family literacy services, based on scientific evidence where available; and

(C) assistance in distance learning and promoting and improving the use of technology in the classroom.

(2) Funding national leadership activities that are not described in paragraph (1), either directly or through grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements awarded on a competitive basis to or with postsecondary educational institutions, public or private organizations or agencies, or consortia of such institutions, organizations, or agencies, such as

(A) developing, improving, and identifying the most successful methods and techniques for addressing the education needs of adults, including instructional practices using phonemic awareness, systematic phonics, fluency, and reading comprehension, based on the work of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development;

(B) increasing the effectiveness of, and improving the quality of, adult education and literacy activities, including family literacy services;

(C) carrying out research, such as estimating the number of adults functioning at the lowest levels of literacy proficiency;

(D)(i) carrying out demonstration programs;

(ii) developing and replicating model and innovative programs, such as the development of models for basic skill certificates, identification of effective strategies for working with adults with learning disabilities and with individuals with limited English proficiency who are adults, and workplace literacy programs; and

(iii) disseminating best practices information, including information regarding promising practices resulting from federally funded demonstration programs;

(E) providing for the conduct of an independent evaluation and assessment of adult education and literacy activities through studies and analyses conducted independently through grants and contracts awarded on a competitive basis, which evaluation and assessment shall include descriptions of—

(i) the effect of performance measures and other measures of accountability on the delivery of adult

education and literacy activities, including family literacy services;

(ii) the extent to which the adult education and literacy activities, including family literacy services, increase the literacy skills of adults (and of children, in the case of family literacy services), lead the participants in such activities to involvement in further education and training, enhance the employment and earnings of such participants, and, if applicable, lead to other positive outcomes, such as reductions in recidivism in the case of prison-based adult education and literacy activities;

(iii) the extent to which the provision of support services to adults enrolled in adult education and family literacy programs increase the rate of enrollment in, and successful completion of, such programs; and

(iv) the extent to which eligible agencies have distributed funds under section 231 to meet the needs of adults through community-based organizations;

(F) supporting efforts aimed at capacity building at the State and local levels, such as technical assistance in program planning, assessment, evaluation, and monitoring of activities carried out under this subtitle;

(G) collecting data, such as data regarding the improvement of both local and State data systems, through technical assistance and development of model performance data collection systems; and

(H) other activities designed to enhance the quality of adult education and literacy activities nationwide.

SEC. 251. REPEALS.

(a) REPEALS.

Subtitle B-Repeals

(1) ADULT EDUCATION ACT.-The Adult Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.) is repealed.

(2) NATIONAL LITERACY ACT OF 1991.-The National Literacy Act of 1991 (20 U.S.C. 1201 note) is repealed. (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

(1) REFUGEE EDUCATION ASSISTANCE ACT.-Subsection (b) of section 402 of the Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980 (8 U.S.C. 1522 note) is repealed.

(2) ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 1965.— (A) SECTION 1202 OF ESEA.-Section 1202(c)(1) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6362(c)(1)) is amended by striking "Adult Education Act" and inserting "Adult Education and Family Literacy Act".

(B) SECTION 1205 OF ESEA.-Section 1205(8)(B) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 6365(8)(B)) is amended by striking “Adult Education Act" and inserting "Adult Education and Family Literacy Act".

(C) SECTION 1206 OF ESEA.-Section 1206(a)(1)(A) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 6366(a)(1)(A)) is amended by striking

"an adult basic education program under the Adult Education Act" and inserting "adult education and literacy activities under the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act".

(D) SECTION 3113 OF ESEA.-Section 3113(1) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 6813(1)) is amended by striking "section 312 of the Adult Education Act" and inserting "section 203 of the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act".

(E) SECTION 9161 OF ESEA.-Section 9161(2) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 7881(2)) is amended by striking "section 312(2) of the Adult Education Act" and inserting "section 203 of the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act".

(3) OLDER AMERICANS ACT OF 1965.-Section 203(b)(8) of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3013(b)(8)) is amended by striking "Adult Education Act" and inserting "Adult Education and Family Literacy Act”.

TITLE III-WORKFORCE INVESTMENTRELATED ACTIVITIES

SEC. 331. [29 U.S.C. 2701 note] SHORT TITLE.

This subtitle may be cited as the "Twenty-First Century Workforce Commission Act".

SEC. 332. FINDINGS.

Congress finds that—

(1) information technology is one of the fastest growing areas in the United States economy;

(2) the United States is a world leader in the information technology industry;

(3) the continued growth and prosperity of the information technology industry is important to the continued prosperity of the United States economy;

1 Subtitle A makes amendments to the Wagner-Peyser Act. Such Act, as amended, appears after the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.

2 Subtitle B consists of amendments made to existing law. Section 321 amends section 239 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2311). Section 322 adds a new section 4110B to chapter 41 of title 38, United States Code. Section 323 amends section 502(b)(1) of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3056(b)(1)).