This testimony was presented by the chairperson of the board of directors of one of the largest national Hispanic organizations before a Senate Republican Task Force on Hispanic Affairs. The following key points are presented: (1) low educational attainment and literacy severely limit the economic opportunities of Hispanics and place a strain on a labor market that increasingly requires highly trained workers; (2) limited English proficiency places a disproportionate number of Hispanic students at risk of early school failure, the greatest predictor of future dropping out; (3) depending on the standard used, the Hispanic illiteracy rate is between 11.9 percent and 56 percent; and (4) current public and private literacy programs, such as the English Literacy Grants Program, cannot meet the need of the Hispanic community due to inadequate funding. The following recommendations are suggested: (1) fully fund the English Literacy Grants Program; (2) expand bilingual education programs through the 1989 Bilingual Education Amendments and programs for the educationally disadvantaged through Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act and the Chapter 1 Migrant Education Program, and begin dropout prevention and school retention programs at the elementary and junior high/middle school levels; (3) structure literacy programs to meet the needs of low-income persons and working parents; and (4) develop new Federal literacy programs targeted at Hispanics similar to the Augustus F. Hawkins-Robert T. Stafford School Improvement Amendments of 1988. (FMW)