[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 25 (Wednesday, March 11, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H1024]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           D.C. SCHOOL CHOICE

  (Mr. GINGRICH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GINGRICH. Mr. Speaker, I think we all in this Congress have a 
unique moral burden for the children of Washington, D.C. We can talk 
about education in America, but education in most of America is the 
legitimate responsibility of the States, of the local school boards and 
of folks back home.
  The District of Columbia is a Federal burden and a Federal 
responsibility. The tragedy is that the children of our national 
capital have been failed by a system which spends over $10,000 per 
student. This is a system which traps children in schools that fail. It 
traps them in a system where they are not learning. It has a very high 
dropout rate.
  Recently, several very patriotic Americans gave of their own money to 
establish a scholarship program. Over 7,500 children applied for those 
scholarships. It is clear that the parents of Washington, D.C., want a 
choice, and as William Raspberry said in a recent column, even if you 
disagree that this will save the entire system, if it is only a 
lifeboat to save a few thousand, should we not at least try to save 
some children, to give them a chance to go to college instead of 
prison, to give them a chance to learn instead of drop out, to give 
them a chance to be in a safe, disciplined education environment rather 
than in a dangerous, undisciplined place where no education occurs?
  I commend the majority leader, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey) 
for the passion and the effort he has put into an unending effort to 
make sure that every child in our national capital has a choice and 
that we have a scholarship program that will give every child a better 
future. The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program, I think, is vital, 
and I hope every Member will decide to vote for the children when the 
time comes.

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