Since 1991, the U.S. has had a national research and development (R&D) center focused on programs that help adults to improve their language, literacy, and numeracy skills; to acquire a General Educational Development (GED) or other high school certification; and to transition into postsecondary education or training. For the first five years, that R&D center was the National Center for Adult Literacy (NCAL), and over the last 11 years, it has been the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL). Unfortunately, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) will end NCSALL's funding in July and has not yet shown an interest in funding a new center to replace it. This essay presents the author's opinion on why DOE should fund a new national R&D center, and what that center would do. The essay draws on five monographs that provide the evidence behind his opinions and that give credit to the many people who informed those opinions. For readers interested in exploring this topic further, the author has included the titles and URLs for those monographs at the end of this essay. (Contains 1 footnote.)