[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 61 (Tuesday, May 17, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 17, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
        SAVE THE U.S. MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY; SUPPORT H.R. 3293

                                 ______


                         HON. GARY L. ACKERMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 17, 1994

  Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a few minutes to 
thank the alumni of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy [USMMA], and the 
members of Project Acta for their continuing efforts to preserve the 
valuable resource that is the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings 
Point, NY.
  Project Acta was initiated in the fall of 1993 when it became clear 
to the U.S. Merchant Alumni Association that the future of the Academy 
was in jeopardy. Project Acta's official mission in threefold: first, 
to support the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy; second, to support the 
U.S. merchant marine; and third, to support the Nation's security 
interests. However, the immediate objective of Project Acta is to 
ensure that the USMMA remains a fully funded Federal service academy, 
with no tuition charges.
  The threat to the Merchant Marine Academy became real when the 
administration's National Performance Review [NPR] recommended that 
tuition be charged to midshipmen attending the USMMA. Additionally, the 
administration has reissued this proposal as part of its budget for 
fiscal year 1995. While fully funding the USMMA for fiscal year 1995, 
the budget proposes to cut funding in half for fiscal year 1996 and to 
make up for the difference by charging tuition.
  Like the other four Federal service academies, the USMMA provides its 
students with a tuition free college education in return for a lengthy 
commitment of service to the Nation. If the academy is forced to charge 
tuition, the effects will be felt immediately and severely.
  Presently, candidates for appointment to the USMMA are drawn from 
every State in the United States through nomination by their Senator or 
Member of Congress. Typically, Academy midshipmen are high achievers 
with strong motivation to excel in a maritime-transportation career.
  If the charging of tuition becomes requisite for the USMMA, the 
selection process at Kings Point will, out of necessity, become based 
upon a candidate's ability to afford tuition. At an expected price of 
$15,000 per year, the Academy would become more expensive to attend 
that most State universities and many private colleges.
  The Academy would be placed in an untenable position if it must tell 
prospective students that in addition to their lengthy minimum 12-year 
commitment of service to the Nation, they must also foot the bill for 
their own education. It was no surprise that when rumors about charging 
tuition at Kings Point began to spread through high schools last year, 
applications for admission to the class of 1998 dropped off by nearly 
25 percent.
  Offering tuition-free education allows each of the Federal service 
academies to draw upon America's most gifted and talented students, 
without regard to race, religion, ethnic, gender, economic or 
geographic background in return for a commitment to service to the 
country. Charging tuition would destroy the diversity that the 
Academy's student body now enjoys. The USMMA would become unaffordable 
to many able and deserving young Americans.
  President Clinton has stressed the need for the United States to 
educate its youth so that we may compete effectively in the 
international trade arena. It is ironic that the administration has 
chosen to target an institution that has been doing this for over half 
a century.
  Over 18,000 alumni of the USMMA have made great contributions to our 
country as leaders in the maritime industry, the Armed Forces, 
academia, corporate America, and the Government. Many came to Kings 
Point from modest means and would not have been able to afford the 
tuition being proposed today.
  The USMMA is the least costly Federal service academy. In fact, it 
currently costs the Federal Government only $29 million a year to 
operate Kings Point. Compared to what many other prestigious 
universities spend on their students each year, the Merchant Marine 
Academy is a bargain for the United States. Kings Point spends 40 
percent less for each student's education than the average of the top 
25 universities in the United States. Additionally, and in contrast to 
the other Federal service academies, USMMA midshipmen are required to 
pay their personal expenses at a cost of $7,000 per student over a 4-
year period, and they do not receive any stipend while attending the 
academy.
  Please join me by cosponsoring H.R. 3293 to preserve the tuition-free 
status of all of our Federal service academies. It is necessary that we 
ensure the ability of future generations the opportunity to attend the 
USMMA and serve their country and its maritime industry.

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