Now for some snapshots from other agencies, which illustrate our Plain Language progress in the new Administration. I'll start with the Dept. of Education. While for many years their attorneys have been reviewing documents to be sure they are written in clear, simple English, staff report that the Bush Administration appointees have been even more supportive of this effort.

In fact, a few months ago, the Undersecretary of Education sent a memo Department-wide on the subject of "well-written and timely regulatory documents" to all senior officers involved in developing regulatory documents. It said, in part: What we write, and how well we write it will be a major factor in sustaining public interest and involving parents, educators, and local officials in our efforts. In short, we want to put a new face on the Department's regulatory documents.
Guidelines stated:

• Draft each document in clear, simple English so the public can understand it.
• Avoid jargon, terms of art, and legalistic and bureaucratic language. Don't write for education "insiders."
• Write in short sentences, short paragraphs and brief sections. Make sure headings fully reflect the material that follows.

Next, one of the early leaders in Plain Language, the Veteran's Benefits Administration – They started using Plain Language in 1995, years before the Federal Gov mandated it, & they call it "Reader-Focused Writing." Since '95, they've had many changes in top management. But one of the initiatives that survived is the plain language initiative - probably because their plan was based on what their customers told them they needed from VBA.

It also helps that the current Secretary for Veterans Affairs is a very vocal advocate for writing letters to our veterans so they can understand them. After several years of training writers and focus testing their revised drafts, VBA reports it has rewritten 95% of its pattern letters and paragraphs which are used in roughly 30 million pieces of correspondence annually. Now they are tackling forms.

They believe evaluating pattern letters, paragraphs & forms is a must. Therefore, they test all high-usage letters& forms with representative readers, since the only true test of knowing whether a document is understandable is to ask the reader.