[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 55 (Wednesday, May 6, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S4449]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        COVERDELL A+ SAVINGS ACCOUNTS BILL--EXPLANATION OF VOTES

 Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, the Senate recently voted on an 
important piece of legislation, the Coverdell A+ Savings Account bill. 
I believe it is important to clarify my position on several amendments 
offered to this bill.
  In general, I believe the best way to ensure effective education 
policy is to direct as many dollars and resources as possible to the 
local level. By giving localities the resources and flexibility they 
need, I am confident that communities and parents will best direct 
those funds to meet the unique and diverse needs of their children. For 
this reason, I support the Coverdell A+ Savings Account bill. This 
legislation, puts resources at the most local level: with parents. 
Parents will now have the ability to save for and meet the educational 
needs of their children. Whether it means hiring a tutor for their 
child, buying a home computer, finding an alternative educational 
setting, or saving for college, parents will be in the position to take 
positive steps towards providing a positive educational future for 
their children.
  For similar reasons, I supported an amendment offered by Senator 
Gorton to give states the option of (1) continuing to receive federal 
education programs under the current funding system; (2) receiving 
federal education programs as a block grant going directly to the state 
without federal regulations; or (3) receiving federal education 
programs in a block grant going directly to the local education agency 
without federal regulations. By allowing local education agencies to 
receive federal resources without federal red tape and bureaucracy, we 
will be putting more power and flexibility in the hands of the people 
most closely involved with educating children. As a safe-guard to 
ensure that an appropriate level of federal funding continues, Senator 
Gorton's amendment insists that if future funding dips below the 
current level of funding, the programs would be forced back into the 
current categorical funding.
  I also supported an amendment offered by Senators Mack and D'Amato 
which would allow states to use existing block grant funds under the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act to fund teacher testing and 
merit pay programs in the state. I believe this amendment would allow 
states to develop important programs to help ensure quality teachers in 
the classroom and to pay those teachers accordingly.
  Finally, I supported an amendment that was offered by Senator Kay 
Bailey Hutchison which clarified the federal position on same-sex 
schools. This amendment would allow same-sex classrooms and schools to 
be eligible to receive federal funding as long as comparable education 
opportunities are offered for students of both sexes. I believe the 
federal government must allow states and communities to find creative 
solutions to meeting the educational needs of their children.
  Again, I support the philosophy behind the Coverdell bill and the 
Gorton amendment which places control, resources, and decision making 
with parents and local communities. Unfortunately, most of the 
amendments offered by Democrats, while noble ideas, fund their programs 
by eliminating the education savings accounts and by focusing the 
programs and power at the federal level. While there were many 
interesting ideas debated, such as the amendment offered by Senator 
Levin which would increase the lifetime learning education credit for 
teachers or the amendment offered by Senator Landrieu to provide 
incentive grants for Blue Ribbon Schools, each proposal was paid for by 
defunding the A+ Savings Accounts. For that reason, I could not support 
these weakening amendments.
  Senator Glenn offered an amendment which would eliminate the ability 
of parents to use their tax-free savings to pay for private school 
tuition or homeschooling expenses. The provision included in the A+ 
bill is identical to the provision supported by President Clinton and 
the Democrats in the Balanced Budget Act which allows parents to save 
$500 a year for college expenses. The Balanced Budget Act, which was 
signed into law by the President, does not differentiate between 
private and public colleges. It is inconsistent to subsidize a more 
limited number of college students and not offer the same benefit in K-
12 education.
  Senator Mosely-Braun offered an amendment to eliminate the Coverdell 
A+ Savings accounts and to use the money instead to create a federal 
school construction program. While I recognize the need for adequate 
school construction, I believe the Coverdell bill more adequately 
addresses the needs for school construction through a provision 
included in the legislation offered by Senator Graham. This provision 
fosters public private partnerships for school construction and 
maintains the function of school construction at the local level. The 
bill provides for $3 billion in tax-exempt bond funding for school 
construction.
  I voted against an amendment offered by Senator Kennedy which would 
forgive a maximum of $8,000 in student loans for teachers entering 
``high need areas or subjects'' and would pay for this provision by 
eliminating the A+ Savings Accounts. I opposed this amendment because 
the Higher Education Reauthorization Act approved by the Senate Labor 
Committee contains similar incentives of student loan forgiveness for 
teachers entering inner-city or rural teaching environments.
  I opposed an amendment offered by Senator Boxer which would create a 
new $250 million federal after-school program. While I support after-
school mentoring and tutoring programs for children, I believe these 
programs should be operated at the local level. In addition, the 
federal government already funds 4 after-school care programs and 19 
existing federal programs that provide tutoring and mentoring for 
students on a one-on-one basis.
  I am encouraged by the Senate's action on the Coverdell A+ Savings 
bill and the amendment offered by Senator Gorton. I look forward to 
additional debate on education issues and new and innovative proposals 
to place greater control and resources at the local level.

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