[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 142 (Tuesday, October 19, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H10187-H10188]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                FY 2000 FUNDING FOR THE GEAR-UP PROGRAM

  (Mr. BROWN of Ohio asked and was given permission to address the 
House

[[Page H10188]]

for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to tell two stories, one 
of success, and one of failure.
  In August, the Education Department awarded a grant to a local 
coalition dedicated to helping students in Lorain, Ohio, go to college. 
The grant is part of the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for 
Undergraduate Programs, or GEAR-UP.
  Lorain County has a large number of low-income students and the 
lowest incidence of postsecondary education in northeast Ohio. The 
GEAR-UP program provides training and materials to volunteer mentors 
from local industry and universities. These positive role models will 
meet with students early, before they internalize negative messages. 
The program intends to motivate students to ask for, and answer to, 
increased academic demand.
  But here is where we risk failure. Funding for GEAR-UP is eliminated 
in the current Labor-HHS appropriations bill. Why? Because GEAR-UP 
supports public-private partnerships to support local students? Because 
it creates dollar-for-dollar matches between local partnerships and 
States? Because it provides college scholarships to reinforce the 
message that hard work begets opportunity?
  Mr. Speaker, let us make sure our failure does not deter students 
from future successes before they have a chance to begin. Let us fund 
the GEAR-UP program.

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