Speaker. studies indicate that 27 million Americans cannot read a newspaper. cannot fill out a job application. cannot maintain a checkbook or understand the warning label on a bottle of medicine. In short. our Nation has 27 million people that form a class of functional illiterates that are uneducated. untrainable. and economically dependent. And these numbers are growing every year. The Department of Education estimates that. every year. 2.3 million more illiterates. including high school dropouts. unlettered passalong graduates and immigrants. are added to our society. We are paying a high price in our Nation for this unfortunate deficiency. As chairman of the House Subcommittee on Commerce.
Identified stereotypes
Immigrants are included in the group of 2.3 million illiterates added to society each year.