Judd Gregg: “like many of my colleagues in the House and the Senate, I applaud the Supreme Court's recent ruling in Zelman v.…”

“like many of my colleagues in the House and the Senate, I applaud the Supreme Court's recent ruling in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris. The Court found that a publically funded private school choice program was Constitutional and does not violate the establishment clause of the Constitution. The Court's decision finally puts to rest the constitutionality arguments which have long been raised by those who oppose providing choice to low-income families. Within hours of the Court decision, Congressman Armey introduced H.R. 5033, the District of Columbia Student Opportunity Scholarship Act of 2002. I join my House colleague in introducing the companion bill, here in the Senate. Specifically, these bills provide scholarships to some of the District's poorest students to enable them to select the public or private school of their choice from participating schools in the District and the surrounding areas. This program, like the Cleveland program upheld by the Supreme Court, would allow families to choose from a wide variety of providers, including religious schools.”