Washington, Apr 29 - Representative Bruce Braley (IA-1) and U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) today urged President Bush to consider Kendall/Hunt Publishing of Dubuque for a contract to provide the African nation of Liberia with educational textbooks.   Braley, Grassley, and Harkin sent President Bush and USAID Administrator Henrietta Fore a letter requesting that Kendall/Hunt receive guidelines to bid on the contract. 

The letter is in response to President Bush’s February 2008 trip to Africa, where he promised $750 million dollars of aid to Liberia—with $1 million devoted to providing textbooks for Liberia’s schoolchildren. 

“The President made an admirable pledge to provide a million dollars worth of textbooks to Liberia,” Braley said.  “He should consider choosing an American business with American-made products to fulfill his promise to the Liberian people.  Kendall/Hunt is an Iowa-owned and operated business, producing and printing textbooks here for over 50 years.  Awarding a contract for producing these textbooks to Kendall/Hunt would both stimulate Iowa’s economy and help further the education of Liberia’s schoolchildren.”

"Liberian school children have a great opportunity to have excellent textbooks thanks to a commitment made by President Bush during a recent visit to the country.  As the United States now looks to meet our obligations, I have no doubt that Kendall-Hunt can compete with anybody in the business, and I expect they will receive the guidelines as soon as possible," Grassley said.  "As a long-standing company in a state known for its top-notch schools, they understand what it takes to give a quality education to young people." 

“Kendall/Hunt Publishing is one of Iowa’s premier companies that has provided quality educational tools for decades to families, communities and educators both here at home and abroad,” said Senator Harkin. “They have been working with the Liberian government for months to provide the country’s school children with reading and math programs. This is reason enough to consider Kendall/Hunt Publishing at the top of the Bush Administration’s list of companies to consider for providing these desperately needed resources abroad. I am hopeful that the Administration will have an open and fair process and I will continue to advocate in favor of our successful local business.”

Kendall/Hunt Publishing was founded and is currently located in Dubuque, Iowa, and has printing facilities in Davenport, Iowa.  Kendall/Hunt has over 50 years of publishing experience across a variety of educational disciplines.

Kendall/Hunt had previously started negotiations with the Liberian Government to supply textbooks for Liberian schools.  Kendall/Hunt officials met with the Liberian Minister of Education, Mr. James Roberts, and the Educational Advisor to Liberian President, Ms. Theresa Leigh-Sherman, during a 2007 trip to Liberia.

Braley, Grassley, and Harkin’s letter asked the President to provide Kendall/Hunt with guidelines to secure the Liberian book contract.  The letter also asked that Kendall/Hunt receive prompt and fair consideration. 

A copy of the letter is below:

April 24, 2008

President George W. Bush

1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW

Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Bush:

On February 21 of this year you visited with the Government and people of Liberia.  While in Liberia you promised $750 million in aid, which included one million text books for the children of Liberia. We are requesting the Executive Branch provide Kendall/Hunt Publishing with guidelines to bid on the contract.

Prior to your trip to Liberia, Kendall/Hunt Publishing had been negotiating with officials of the Liberian Government regarding Kindergarten through sixth grade math, science, and reading materials.  Kendall/Hunt sent a representative to Liberia in December of 2007 to meet with the Ministry of Education, Mr. James Roberts and the Educational Advisor to President Johnson-Sirleaf, Ms. Theresa Leigh-Sherman.  This meeting concluded with great success and a commitment to implement the curricula across the Republic upon securing funding.

Kendall/Hunt Publishing has submitted two products to the Liberian Ministry of Education.  They are Math Trailblazers K-6 mathematics program and Pathways K-6 Reading program.  Math Trailblazers has over 20 years of research and was initially developed with NSF funding.  Pathways is a comprehensive elementary reading program with integrated language arts.  Pathways uses award-winning literature that children want to read to deliver the skills that make students life-long learners. 

Kendall/Hunt Publishing, which was founded and is currently located in Dubuque, Iowa, has a long proud history of producing education material for children across this country. They understand the importance of Professional Development and will to provide teacher training as part of their overall service to the Republic of Liberia.  Kendall/Hunt Publishing recognizes the importance of providing the children of Liberia with culturally appropriate curricula. Finally, Kendall/Hunt is a successful American business: development, printing and manufacturing are completely produced in the United Sates.

We are requesting that you provide Kendall/Hunt with the guidelines for procuring the Liberian book contract. Furthermore, when evaluating publishing companies to fulfill your promise of one million books, we urge prompt, fair, and proper consideration be given to Kendall/Hunt. Thank you for your attention to this matter and we look forward to a response of our request.

Sincerely,

Rep. Bruce Braley

Sen. Chuck Grassley

Sen. Tom Harkin

cc: USAID Administrator Henrietta Fore