[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 54 (Monday, April 26, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4376-S4377]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. VOINOVICH (for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Jeffords, and Mr. 
        Lieberman):
  S. 2347. A bill to amend the District of Columbia Access Act of 1999 
to permanently authorize the public school and private school tuition 
assistance programs established under the Act; to the Committee on 
Governmental Affairs.
  Mr. VOINOVICH. Mr. President, leveling the playing field for high 
school graduates in the District of Columbia continues to be a top 
priority of the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the 
Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia which I chair. Today I 
would like to highlight the tremendous impact the District of Columbia 
Tuition Assistance Program--D.C. TAG--has had on promoting higher 
education for high school graduates in the Nation's Capital and 
introduce legislation that would permanently authorize the District of 
Columbia College Access Act of 1999.
  In 1999, I worked with the House and fellow Senators Jeffords and 
Durbin to craft the District of Columbia College Access Act which was 
signed into law on November 12, 1999. Soon after, under the direction 
of Mayor Anthony Williams, the D.C. TAG Program was created to 
implement this important legislation. The first grants were awarded in 
2000.
  The aim of the Program was to afford D.C. high school graduates the 
same opportunity that high school seniors in each of the 50 States 
have, the ability to attend public universities and colleges at in-
State tuition rates in all 50 States and participating private 
schools--Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) nationwide 
or private colleges or universities in Virginia or Maryland. The 
program has made it possible for D.C. residents to attend college who 
did not have access to similar State-supported systems.
  The D.C. TAG scholarships are used by D.C. residents to pay the 
difference between in-State and out-of-State tuition, up to $10,000 per 
student per

[[Page S4377]]

school year with a cumulative cap of $50,000 per student. In addition, 
as of March 2002, D.C. residents attending participating private 
institutions started receiving tuition grants under the program of 
$2,500 per student per school year with a cumulative cap of $12,500 per 
student.
  To date, D.C. TAG has dispersed more than $63 million to a total of 
6,527 students, many of whom are the first in their family to attend 
college. All current high school students who are D.C. residents are 
eligible for these scholarships and participation is increasing.
  The powerful impact of the program on high school graduates 
continuing on to college is hard to deny. Data from the Department of 
Education's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System show that 
the number of D.C. high school graduates continuing on to college 
increased from 1,750 in 1998 to 2,230 in 2002. That's a 28 percent 
increase since the program was created. This is the highest level of 
college attendance of District students and exceeds the national 
average, over the same period, of a 5-percent increase.
  Mayor Williams stated that `'No State in the Union can make that 
claim. This unprecedented figure is due in large part, if not almost 
exclusively, I believe, to D.C. TAG.''
  According to a survey conducted by the D.C. TAG Office, the grants 
have become an essential part of higher education planning for D.C. 
residents. The majority of students who have received assistance 
through the program have indicated that the existence of the grants 
made a difference in their decision to attend college, and also played 
a role in deciding which college to attend.
  It is important for my colleagues to know that thousands of D.C. 
students have taken advantage of this program. It can help to turn 
around years of economic and educational despair in the District.
  We are now coming to the end of the 5-year authorization for the 
program which expires in November 2005. Because of this and the success 
of the program, Senators Durbin, Jeffords, Lieberman, and I are 
introducing this bill to permanently reauthorize the D.C. College 
Access Act.
  In closing I would like to quote two D.C. Residents. La Rue Purry, 
currently a freshman at the University of Alabama states that ``This 
program gave me the opportunity to get the education I always wanted, 
the education my family couldn't have provided for me.''
  Brian Ford, a former D.C. TAG recipient, who testified at the House 
committee on Government Reform Hearing on March 25, 2004, stated that 
``The D.C. Tuition Assistance Program is a necessity for the city of 
Washington, DC, and for its residents. I urge Congress to please 
continue to provide financial support to the D.C. TAG program so one 
day students like myself can have a college diploma hanging on the wall 
for the world to see.''
  I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation and I'm 
confident that it can be enacted this year. I ask unanimous consent 
that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2347

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. PERMANENT AUTHORIZATION OF TUITION ASSISTANCE 
                   PROGRAMS.

       (a) Public School Program.--Section 3(i) of the District of 
     Columbia College Access Act of 1999 (sec. 38--2702(i), D.C. 
     Official Code) is amended by striking ``each of the five 
     succeeding fiscal years'' and inserting ``each succeeding 
     fiscal year''.
       (b) Private School Program.--Section 5(f) of such Act (sec. 
     38--2704(f), D.C. Official Code) is amended by striking 
     ``each of the five succeeding fiscal years'' and inserting 
     ``each succeeding fiscal year''.
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