[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 27, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H1259-H1260]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  MAINTAIN THE EDUCATION OF OUR YOUNG

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Pallone] is recognized 
during morning business for 3 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, over the last 3 weeks, we had what is know 
as our district work period when we were back in our home States and 
our home congressional districts and had the opportunity to have forums 
and town meetings and meet with our constituents in a way that we 
really have not had the opportunity since August.
  One of the things that the Democratic Members of the New Jersey 
congressional delegation did was to have an education express, where we 
went on a bus throughout the State of New Jersey from south Jersey to 
north and basically got opinions from both high school students and 
college students about the cuts in Federal education programs that have 
been proposed by Speaker Gingrich and the Republican leadership. I was 
amazed to see how many of these students were concerned and how many 
were going to be directly impacted by the cuts that not only are 
proposed in the Gingrich budget but also have started to take place 
because of the cutbacks in the appropriation levels that have passed 
this House.
  As my colleagues know, since October for education programs, we have 
not had a regular spending or appropriation bill. Instead we are 
operating under continuing resolutions, one of which expires on March 
15 and has to be renewed if these programs are going to continue this 
year. We estimate that the funding levels under the current continuing 
resolution, if continued at the same rate through the rest of this 
fiscal year, would result in an unprecedented $3.1 billion cut in 
education funds, about a 20-percent cut.
  I am hopeful that through the grassroots efforts of things like the 
education express and many of my colleagues coming back from this 3-
week district work period, that we will be able to convince the 
Republican leadership that this level of cuts in education programs 
cannot and should not continue for the rest of this fiscal year because 
of the impact on students, on our young people and their education 
throughout this country.
  Just to highlight a few differences between what the Republican 
Congress has proposed and what President Clinton and the Democrats have 
proposed on education, as many know, the national service program, or 
AmeriCorps, 

[[Page H1260]]
was started by President Clinton and has been in effect now for a 
couple of years. About 25,000 AmeriCorps volunteers are earning college 
money by serving their local communities. The Republican budget 
proposals, however, would eliminate funding for President Clinton's 
national service program.
  On Pell grants, the President has called for increasing the number 
and maximum award which would help 375,000 more students benefit from 
Pell grants by the year 2000. The Republican budget that the President 
vetoed denies 380,000 deserving students a Pell grant college 
scholarship.
  Head Start is another educational program that on a bipartisan basis 
President Reagan, President Bush and others on the Republican side have 
advocated Head Start and encouraged it. Yet the GOP budget would deny 
Head Start benefits to 180,000 children over the next 7 years.
  These are just some of the examples of the education programs that 
would be cut and should not be cut if we are going to the invest in our 
students and our young people in this country.

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