[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 10002]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             INTRODUCTION OF THE HOPE PLUS SCHOLARSHIP ACT

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                             HON. RON PAUL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 2, 2009

  Mr. PAUL. Madam Speaker, I raise to introduce the Hope Plus 
Scholarship Act, which expands the Hope Education Scholarship credit to 
cover K-12 education expenses. Under this bill, parents could use the 
Hope Scholarship to pay for private or religious school tuition or to 
offset the cost of home schooling. In addition, under the bill, all 
Americans could use the Hope Scholarship to make cash or in-kind 
donations to public schools. Thus, the Hope Scholarship could help 
working parents send their child to a private school, while other 
patents could take advantage of the Hope credit to help purchase new 
computers for their children's local public school.
  Reducing taxes so that Americans can devote more of their own 
resources to education is the best way to improve America's schools, 
since individuals are more likely than federal bureaucrats to insist 
that schools be accountable for student performance. When the federal 
government controls the education dollar, schools will be held 
accountable for their compliance with bureaucratic paperwork 
requirements and mandates that have little to do with actual education. 
Federal rules and regulations also divert valuable resources away from 
classroom instruction.
  The only way to reform America's education system is through 
restoring control of the education dollar to the American people so 
they can ensure schools provide their children a quality education. I 
therefore ask all of my colleagues to help improve education by 
returning education resources to the American people by cosponsoring 
the Hope Plus Scholarship Act.

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