Todd Tiahrt: “it has been good for education to have Republicans in control. Under the direction of the gentleman from Illinois…”

“it has been good for education to have Republicans in control. Under the direction of the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Porter), we have improved the important programs; and education has done very well, and Pell Grants is one of those programs. Under the Democrats' control, prior to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Porter) taking over, Pell Grants were stagnant in their funding levels. It actually shrank a little when the Clinton administration took over. But under the leadership of the gentleman of Illinois (Chairman Porter), in the last 5 years, we have increased the funding for Pell Grants by 50 percent. It is a very good program, so I want to commend the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey) for bringing to our attention the importance of Pell Grants so that we can talk about how, under Republican control, Pell Grants have done very well. There has been some confusion on the floor about the relationship between this education funding bill, appropriations bill, and tax relief. There is no tax provisions in this bill, but there is an increase to education. In the last 5 years under Republican control, education has grown faster than the rate of inflation. The important programs have been highlighted and have also grown. So let us not be confused by this talk about tax relief and education, because Republicans have emphasized the need for good programs, like Pell Grants, like special education, and have increased the funding dramatically.”