[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 17]
[House]
[Pages 24184-24185]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                    MAKING EDUCATION MORE AFFORDABLE

  (Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, it has been said that education is not 
the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire. But, Mr. Speaker, how 
can our children keep the flames of education alive when for many 
college education, so necessary in today's job market, seems 
unaffordable and out of reach.
  As a former educator and school administrator, I know of the 
difficulties that working families encounter with the skyrocketing 
costs of a college

[[Page 24185]]

education. While in the Florida legislature, I made it a priority to 
create the Florida Prepaid College Tuition Plan, helping thousands of 
Florida's families. In Congress, I have continued to support 
legislation aimed at providing tax deductions for families of college 
students, particularly lower-income families.
  As legislators, it is our duty to ensure that a college education is 
made affordable. And tax deductions and incentives are a surefire way 
of relieving working families who aspire to send their children to 
college. Our future can only be as good as the education of our 
children.
  Our congressional leadership is making students a priority, and we 
will work to pass legislation that will enable them to attend college, 
to reach their goals, and supply them with the necessary tools to 
create an even better America.

                          ____________________