[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 27 (Wednesday, March 5, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H728-H729]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HIGHER EDUCATION ACCUMULATION PROGRAM

  (Mr. ROTHMAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, during the past 15 years, tuition at 4-year 
public universities has increased more than 4 times the increase in 
median household income. If we fail to act

[[Page H729]]

now, college will be affordable only for the rich in America.
  I have cosponsored a bill with the gentlewoman from California [Ms. 
Eshoo] called the Higher Education Accumulation Program. The bill will 
help make college affordable for middle and working class families by 
allowing parents to set up IRA's for their children's higher education. 
Parents will be able to make tax deductible $5,000 contributions for 
each of their children for higher education. To deny a child an 
opportunity for an education is to deny that child a lifetime of 
opportunities.
  The President and the Senate majority leader have endorsed this 
concept, and they have slightly different plans of their own. I ask 
that Members of the House, on a bipartisan basis, support the Higher 
Education Accumulation Program, H.R. 53, the HEAP Act, to help make 
college affordable for working and middle class families in America.

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