[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 105 (Monday, July 22, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1107]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          STUDENT SUCCESS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                  HON. GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN

                      of northern mariana islands

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 19, 2013

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 5) to 
     support State and local accountability for public education, 
     protect State and local authority, inform parents of the 
     performance of their children's schools, and for other 
     purposes:

  Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Chair, education is the most important tool we have 
to encourage economic development. This is true for our country and it 
is especially true for my district, the Northern Mariana Islands.
   If we give our young people a fine education, they will use that 
education to improve their communities--both economically and by being 
responsible citizens.
   That's why I want to make sure that students in the Northern Mariana 
Islands get the same support from our federal government that students 
in every other part of America receive.
   Unfortunately, the current Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
does not provide parity in federal support for my students.
   Title I-A, specifically, by setting aside just one percent of total 
funding to be shared by the Bureau of Indian Education and the 
``outlying areas'' of American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and the 
Northern Mariana Islands effectively short-changes the students I 
represent.
   Just as Title I students everywhere in America, my students come 
from families that do not have a lot of money for books and basic 
supplies and educational experiences. That's why Title I exists: to 
help make up the difference for students unlucky enough to be born to 
parents who don't have much money.
   But the one percent set-aside in current law--of which only about 
one-quarter goes to the outlying areas--is not making up that 
difference.
   For that reason, I support the Democratic alternative to H.R. 5.
   The Democratic alternative, Mr. Miller's substitute amendment, 
acknowledges that a disparity exists. And it offers a solution.
   The amendment would reserve one-half of one percent for the outlying 
areas, exclusively, effectively doubling the current set-aside. 
Northern Marianas students will still not be getting the same level of 
federal assistance they would if they lived in a State. Nevertheless, 
this would be a significant improvement.
   To ensure that this increase for the outlying areas will not mean a 
decrease for States, the enhanced set-aside funding is only triggered 
when, and if, there is an overall increase in Title I funding.
   So, this is only a partial solution and is contingent upon a set of 
circumstances that at the moment seems unlikely to happen.
   But the Democratic alternative does recognize that we have to do 
something to get us closer to the ideal of equal opportunity for all of 
our students. For that reason I support the proposal and I thank Mr. 
Miller for making it part of his Democratic alternative.
   I urge my colleagues to support the substitute amendment.

                          ____________________