[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 129 (Friday, August 4, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1634]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


            THE BATEMEN-SAXTON-EDWARDS IMPACT AID COMPROMISE

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                        HON. PATRICK J. KENNEDY

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, August 3, 1995
  Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of 
the agreement on Impact Aid that has been struck this evening, and I 
applaud Mr. Bateman, Mr. Saxton, Mr. Edwards, and Mr. Porter's 
commitment to ensure adequate funding be provided to the Impact Aid 
Program when the House and Senate conference on this legislation.
  The reason this agreement is so critical is because today we are 
faced with an $83 million gap in one of our countries most vital 
functions: the ability to educate our children and ensure our Nation's 
prosperity for generations to come. For the past 45 years the Federal 
Government recognized its obligation to compensate school districts for 
the costs of educating children whose patents live or work on federally 
owned land. I ask my colleagues today, what has happened to that 
obligation? Has the Federal Government become so single-mined in its 
attempt to reduce the deficit that it has become blind to the needs of 
our Nation's children.
  Many of these children are those of the men and women who serve in 
our Nation's armed services. Is cutting their children's education how 
we choose to pay back the people who faithfully serve our country? In 
my opinion it's a crime to tell the children of military impacted 
communities that they have to receive a substandard education because 
the Federal Government does not want to pay it's fair share.
  Many schools have had to close due to cutbacks in the Impact Aid 
Program. Many more have had to incur huge deficits just to keep 
operating. From Nebraska and South Dakota to New Jersey and New York 
schools of all sizes have had major difficulty keeping their doors 
open.
  But the necessity of Impact Aid goes far beyond the 1.8 million 
children who are eligible under the program. Terminating the program 
will also have a significant impact on the 20 million students who 
attend schools that are dependent on Impact Aid funding. In my own 
district, thousands of children in the Middletown, Newport, and 
Portsmouth school districts are largely effect by the Impact Aid 
Program. What will happen to these children if this program goes 
unfunded? Where will they go if their school closes down?
  Impact Aid is about more than education, it is also about the 
strength of communities. The people of Middletown, RI tell me they are 
particularly proud of the community, their schools, and their military 
population. For over 200 years these same people have extended 
themselves to the military and have achieved an excellent reputation 
that is passed from generation to generation of servicemen and women at 
the Naval base on Aquidneck Island. But there are limits to these 
relationships. It is unreasonable to expect local taxpayers to 
increasingly subsidize the education of military students.
  Even with full funding of Impact Aid, Middletown Public Schools still 
experience over a $4 million loss in tax revenue from land occupied by 
the Navy instead of private housing or businesses. If the proposed 
reductions go into effect, a bad situation will become undoubtedly 
worse.
  Mr. Speaker, the choice is ours and the choice is clear. We can 
choose to fund the future of America's students today or be prepared to 
pay the costs of an uneducated and unskilled work force tomorrow. I am 
gratified the leadership of this body has made the right choice and has 
committed itself to providing for our children's future.


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