[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 39 (Wednesday, March 20, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H2473-H2474]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 EDUCATION BUDGET CUTS IN TRIO PROGRAMS

  (Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO. Mr. Speaker, once again, some political leaders 
are trying to take away money needed for education. Republican Members 
of the House recently issued a list of Federal education programs which 
they say do not work.
  The truth is that a majority of the programs they are talking about 
do not even have anything to do with educating children. Yet to justify 
the largest

[[Page H2474]]

cuts in education funding in the Nation's history, they have resorted 
to scare tactis and deceiving the people by not mentioning the programs 
that do work.
  The public should know the truth about this country's successful 
education programs, such as the TRIO programs which enable Americans 
from low-income families to graduate from college. Funded under Title 
IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, TRIO programs go hand-in-hand 
with student financial aid programs.
  When children of low-income families aspire to be teachers, doctors, 
lawyers, or to undertake doctoral studies, TRIO provides them with the 
support needed to achieve these career goals.
  Many students who participate in TRIO come from America's broken 
urban-school systems, where inequality and segregation reign. They live 
in violent and drug-infested neighborhoods and are confronted with a 
myriad of obstacles which hinder academic pursuits. The truth is that 
many come from families who have had to depend on welfare. TRIO 
provides these students an opportunity to overcome these barriers and 
it enables the sons and daughters of low-income families to break the 
cycle of poverty and dependency.
  Mr. Speaker, we need to keep investing in TRIO. And we need to keep 
investing in education.

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