[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 2553]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        FULLY FUNDING IMPACT AID

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                         HON. MARK STEVEN KIRK

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, January 29, 2007

  Mr. KIRK. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce The Government 
Reservation Accelerated Development for Education Aid Act, GRADE-A, 
H.R. 701, a bill to ensure the Federal government fully funds the 
Impact Aid program.
  In 1950, President Harry Truman established the Impact Aid program to 
meet the revenue shortfalls in school districts and communities that 
occur in districts with federally owned land, which are exempt from 
State and local property taxes. Public schools are required by law to 
accept all children from military families, Native American 
reservations or other Federal establishments. This puts a severe 
financial burden on school districts that educate a significant number 
of federally connected children, diminishing the overall quality of 
education, and increasing the funding burden on local taxpayers.
  For years Impact Aid was fully funded and offered some of the 
strongest direct assistance to military families across the Nation. 
Unfortunately, over the last decade we have fallen behind on this 
commitment. GRADE-A has garnered bipartisan support and offers the 
opportunity to reverse this negative trend.
  Earlier this Congress I introduced H.R. 12, in order to ensure that 
students in my district continue to receive the resources needed to 
succeed. I introduced this bill to help North Chicago continue to 
qualify as ``heavily impacted'' and therefore, receive maximum funding, 
and to ensure that Glenview and Highland Park receive fair 
compensation.
  I believe that it is crucial for schools outside of my district that 
are affected by the presence of the Federal government to receive 
support from the Impact Aid program as well. This funding is necessary 
to maintain school quality, protect surrounding communities from 
financial burden and to fulfill an obligation to our men and women 
serving overseas, by caring for their families at home.

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