[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 130 (Saturday, August 5, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1646-E1647]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1996

                                 ______


                               speech of

                        HON. PATRICK J. KENNEDY

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, August 2, 1995

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2127) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human 
     Services, and Education, and related agencies, for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 1996, and for other purposes:

  Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support 
of the Bateman-Edwards proposal in conference and its efforts to 
restore funding to the Impact Aid Program. 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 parents 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-minded 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 its 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 effected 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 our communities. The people of Middletown, RI, tell me they 
are particularly proud of their 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 

[[Page E1647]]
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. With this year's 
reductions, a bad situation will become undoubtedly worse.
  Mr. Speaker, the choice is ours. We can fund the future of America's 
students today or be prepared to pay the costs of uneducated and 
unskilled work force tomorrow.


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