Paul Coverdell: “First, I want to come back, as I probably will have to do all week long, to respond to the characterization of the…”

“First, I want to come back, as I probably will have to do all week long, to respond to the characterization of the nature of the education savings account that is a title--one piece--of the bill that is before the Senate. The Senator from Massachusetts, the Senator from North Dakota, and the Senator from Arkansas have characterized the distribution of these moneys. I do not know where they are getting their figures. I think the Senator from Arkansas indicated that some 90 percent of the proceeds of the education savings account would end up in support of students in private schools. That is just absolutely and totally incorrect. Let me run it down one more time. This education savings account is identical, the same--I underline ``the same''--as the education savings account embraced by the President, that he was applauding, passed with a majority of their votes, Senate and House, and signed on the White House lawn in a huge celebration. We were celebrating the fact that we had created an education savings account that would help middle-income people pay for the cost of higher education. That savings account that we celebrated, that the President signed and took pride in authorship, although there were a lot of authors, allowed a family, a middle-class family, to save $500 a year and the interest buildup would not be taxed if they used it for the cost of higher education. That is what we passed, that is what he signed, and that is what we celebrated.”