[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 15 (Wednesday, February 25, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H584]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIPS

  (Mr. ARMEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ARMEY. Madam Speaker, I have good news this morning. Low-income 
children in D.C. are a giant step closer to a good education.
  The Senate has passed the bill, which I had the privilege of 
introducing in the House, to provide opportunity scholarships in the 
District of Columbia. With this legislation, 2,000 poor children will 
be able to attend the public, private, or religious school of their 
choice. Only one thing stands between these children and a brighter 
educational future: President Clinton's signature.
  The teachers unions may be determined to kill this bill. They may 
pressure him to veto it. But the parents of D.C. are saying: Sign the 
bill. In fact, one out of every six eligible children in D.C. wants an 
opportunity scholarship. That is right, 7,500 low-income children have 
applied for a voucher from a local private charity called the 
Washington Scholarship Fund. That is 17.2 percent of the eligible 
population.
  Unfortunately, Madam Speaker, only 1,000 of these children will 
actually get a scholarship. That leaves 6,500 children empty handed, 
stuck in crumbling schools that are failing them.
  Madam Speaker, we cannot abandon these children to another year of 
failure. If the President will not listen to me, I hope he will listen 
to his fellow Democrats. I hope he will listen to Floyd Flake, to Joe 
Lieberman, to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski), to the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hall), to Joe Biden. These courageous 
Democrats have risen above politics and reached across the aisle to 
help these children.
  Madam Speaker, thousands of needy families in D.C. want hope. 
President Clinton can give them that hope. He can give them a choice. 
He can sign the bill.

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