[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 51 (Thursday, April 30, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E724]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HIGHER EDUCATION AMENDMENTS OF 1998

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 29, 1998

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 6) to extend 
     the authorization of programs under the Higher Education Act 
     of 1965, and for other purposes:

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the Lazio-
Gilman-Tauscher amendment to H.R. 6, the Higher Education Act. This 
amendment will provide loan forgiveness for full time child care 
providers across the country.
  The combination of skyrocketing college tuition costs and the 
drastically low average salary of child care providers often prevents 
the most qualified college graduates from pursuing careers in child 
care. The average child care worker earns about $12,000 a year while 
the average outstanding loan total for a college graduate ranges 
between $11,000 and $14,000, depending on geographic location. New 
graduates cannot afford to work in a day care center with these types 
of loans looming over them, and many look to teaching and other 
professions that given them the opportunity to earn more money.
  Those who do choose to work in a day care setting quickly discover 
that they cannot continue to work in centers, and use their positions 
to help catapult them into full time teaching positions in public and 
private schools.
  This amendment will give child care workers the incentive to remain 
in the child care field and will provide a similar loan forgiveness to 
the program already in effect for teachers, doctors and Peace Corps 
volunteers. This amendment provides incentives that encourage stable, 
highly educated, and better trained staff members in America's child 
care facilities. Additionally, the program is designed so that the loan 
forgiveness is directly related to the number of years of service in 
child care thus ensuring stability and continuity of providers at day 
care centers.
  Accordingly, I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting the Lazio-
Gilman-Tauscher amendment in helping to provide assistance to child 
care workers and to ensure that our Nation's children are being cared 
for by trained staff in day care centers across America.

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