Gary Condit: “I rise today to alert you to my concerns with certain provisions contained in H.R. 5, the Individuals With Disabilities…”

“I rise today to alert you to my concerns with certain provisions contained in H.R. 5, the Individuals With Disabilities Act Amendments of 1997. Specifically, I am opposed to the provisions in this bill that require States to provide special education services to disabled individuals aged 16 to 21 who are incarcerated. I have always been supportive of an all out effort to provide educators with the necessary resources to properly train and educate those with disabilities. For this reason, I must object to requiring States to spend their scare education resources to serve prisoners. As you may be aware, both the Governor of California and California's legislative bodies have registered their disapproval of provisions mandating that the State provide special education services to convicted felons. While there may be prisoners who would benefit from such services, the States ought to be trusted to make this decision on their own. Equally disturbing is the provision allowing the Department of Education to penalize States who fail to comply with this requirement by withholding all special education money granted to a State. Notwithstanding my objections to these provisions, the overall merits of H.R. 5 warrant my support at this time. The objectionable provisions must be revisited by Congress.”