[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 134 (Wednesday, September 25, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1692]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CONGRESS MUST PRIORITIZE STUDENT FINANCIAL AID AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 24, 1996

  Mr. THOMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I am concerned that as the budget process 
for fiscal year 1997 comes to a close, whether through an omnibus 
appropriations bill or by normal appropriations bills, this Congress 
may not sufficiently prioritize student financial aid and education 
programs. As we all search to balance the budget, let us not forget the 
heavy burden that our educational institutions have for preparing 
today's youth to lead America in the next century.
  I understand that cuts will inevitably be made, and many of the 
President's funding requests will not be met as we wind our way through 
these budget debates. However, to those Members who feel it is 
necessary to balance the budget by eliminating Goals 2000, Perkins 
loans, and Healthy Start while also slashing funding for Pell grants, 
teacher training programs, and Safe and Drug-Free Schools, I must ask 
that you reexamine your values.
  For example, consider the words that Tomika Harris of Fayette, MI 
wrote as she applied for a summer scholarship for needy students at the 
University of Southern Mississippi. In response to the question, ``What 
impact will the loss of financial aid have on your educational goals 
and what does financial aid mean to you?'', Ms. Harris gave us an 
insight into how important financial aid and a higher education are to 
today's youth:

       The loss of financial aid will have a dramatic impact on 
     not only me, but also my peers. In my community, there is 
     mostly lower middle class and poverty stricken people. 
     However, most of the kids want to continue their education, 
     but because we have low employment rates, we depend on 
     financial aid terribly to attend a higher education 
     institution. If Congress takes financial aid away, that will 
     be more students on the streets probably selling drugs 
     instead of learning in a classroom. To me, financial aid is 
     not money to go to college, but an opportunity for success.

  Perkins loans, Pell grants, Goals 2000, Healthy Start and many of 
these other programs serve as primary vehicles to lift by State out of 
the poverty that has consumed generations of bright, young minds. Even 
now, I can hear the voices of the mothers and fathers I see each 
weekend in Mississippi telling me that they know their child will have 
a chance to end the cycle of broken dreams if he or she can only get a 
Head Start. Now, just as years of hard work by teachers and public 
officials have helped Mississippi and this Nation to finally begin 
throwing off the heavy shrouds of poverty, do not send us back into an 
abyss of shattered lives and undereducated minds.
  Each of us has a duty as elected official to heed these voices. 
Listen to them, they are the children of today hoping for tomorrow.

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