[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 81 (Friday, June 19, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H4842]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         THE PRESIDENT IS OPPOSED TO EDUCATION SAVINGS ACCOUNTS

  (Mr. BALLENGER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BALLENGER. Mr. Speaker, it is not very useful or helpful to 
debate another man's motives. After all, how can one possibly know the 
true motives in another man's heart? But how else can we explain the 
President's opposition to perhaps the best single thing this Congress 
has done for our Nation's children this year in the area of education?
  Yesterday the President indicated that he plans to veto the Coverdell 
legislation that would allow parents, guardians, even corporations and 
unions to set aside up to $2,000 per year in tax-free savings accounts.
  Think about this: The President is opposed to education savings 
accounts. This is something that middle-class parents have been calling 
for for years. What could possibly explain the opposition of most of 
the Democrat Party to this pro-education bill? Could it be that this 
party is utterly, totally, inextricably beholden to the teachers' 
unions, special interests that fight every single reform that might 
threaten their power?
  This is special-interest politics at its worst, and our children are 
the ones who are being short-changed by it.

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