[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 117 (Wednesday, July 19, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H7185]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      EARNING BY LEARNING CRONYISM

  (Mr. WARD asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WARD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address a new program 
initiated by Speaker Gingrich called Earning by Learning, a reading 
program which proports to pay schoolchildren $2 for every book they 
read. However, according to a story in Monday's Wall Street Journal, 
last year 90 percent of the money went to an old friend of the Speaker, 
who is working on the Speaker's biography and was, in fact, on his 
congressional payroll. That left only 10 cents on the dollar for the 
kids.
  This stands in marked contrast to what the Speaker has said a million 
times, including a televised lecture on January 21, 1995, that ``The 
only money goes to the kids.'' He elaborated and said, ``So if you have 
$1,000, you can pay for 500 books.'' But what we see is typical 
cronyism.
  Mr. Speaker, use all of the money for books, don't mislead the 
American people, especially when you are using our Nation's children as 
your stage props.


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