[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 80 (Thursday, June 18, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H4726]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 REJECT THE PRIVATE SCHOOL VOUCHER BILL

  (Mr. ETHERIDGE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call on this House to 
reject the Coverdell voucher bill.
  As a former State superintendent in North Carolina's public schools, 
I know that using taxpayer money to finance private school tuition will 
not improve education in this country. Taking the taxpayers' money, 
more than $2 billion, to subsidize private schools at the expense of 
our neighborhood public schools is wrong.
  Instead of this private school voucher bill, I call on this Congress 
to pass legislation to address the school construction crisis in this 
country. Our classrooms are bursting at the seams, and we know that the 
school age population is projected to soar in the next decade. This 
Congress should do its part to help our States and localities build 
schools for our children.
  I have introduced legislation, H.R. 3652, that will take the revenue 
from the Coverdell voucher bill and use that school construction money 
as bonds to help growing communities across this country to meet their 
needs.
  I urge my colleagues to reject this bill and build schools.

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