[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Page 22748]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. INHOFE:
  S. 3171. A bill to amend the impact aid program under the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to improve the delivery of payments 
under the program to local educational agencies; to the Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, today I am introducing a bill to make the 
Impact Aid Program a Federal entitlement.
  Over the past few years, the need for a change in the delivery of 
Impact Aid payments to eligible school districts has become 
increasingly clear. Impact Aid was originally designed to compensate a 
local school district for financial losses caused by a Federal presence 
in that district, whether due to a military base or to other designated 
Federal land in the community. Congress met its obligation and fully 
funded the program for the first twenty years of its existence. When 
the funding was cut in 1971, appropriations for Impact Aid were 
allocated for school districts according to a need-based formula. In 
subsequent years, multiple changes in the law have revised and further 
complicated both the formula and the additional factors that determine 
funding for each district. The result of these numerous revisions has 
been large payment disparities for the same types of students in 
different districts, as well as inherent flaws in reimbursements due to 
how school districts are defined in different states.
  I have consistently defended increased appropriations for Impact Aid 
not only because it is a vital source of revenue for many local school 
districts, but also because it constitutes a clear-cut Federal 
responsibility. When the Federal Government's presence in a community 
detracts from the local tax base, which often comprises nearly 90 
percent of local schools' funding, we must compensate for the lost 
funds. When we do not do so, the children suffer the consequences.
  Despite increases in the past few years, Impact Aid remains 
substantially under-funded. We can no longer ignore the inequity this 
causes in educating our students. It is for this reason that I have 
introduced this bill today. When this legislation becomes law, Congress 
will be required to meet its obligation to the children and the schools 
that have been negatively impacted for so long. I urge my colleagues to 
join me in supporting our local schools by permanently fully funding 
the Impact Aid program.

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