Political Quotes

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Our children are being let down. Our education system is no longer the world's best. In the District of Columbia, they are facing an education crisis like none other in our country. According to some experts, the D.C. public schools spend over $20,000 per year on each and every student. Despite this, D.C. students perform the worst when compared to all 50 States. One study found that only 13 percent of eighth-graders in the D.C. public schools were proficient in reading. This must change. You may be wondering, Why is Congress focusing on just the D.C. schools today? That is because the D.C. public schools are unique, in that under the Constitution, Congress has the sole responsibility to govern over the District of Columbia. With that in mind, it is our responsibility to ensure that we no longer allow these students to slip through the cracks. That is why I'm urging my colleagues to support H.R. 471, the SOAR Act. This bill allows low-income D.C. students a scholarship to attend a school of their parents' choice. Seventy-four percent of parents in D.C. support this plan because that has achieved real results. While I believe education is best decided on the local level, Congress is constitutionally obligated to fund D.C. students and their education. That is why we must give parents the choice as to where their children will attend school. We can't afford to continue to ignore these students.…”