Duncan Faircloth: “I rise today to speak on education. I usually don't agree with the President on policy. However, this is one occasion…”

“I rise today to speak on education. I usually don't agree with the President on policy. However, this is one occasion where I do agree. The President in this year's State of the Union Address, proposed that billions be spent on education in his ``Call to Action for American Education.'' One of the principles in this plan is his hope scholarship proposal. President Clinton proposes 2 years of a $1,500-a-year for college tuition, enough to pay for the typical community college. I agree that we should give every adult American the opportunity to obtain the first 2 years of higher education. On January 21, I introduced S. 50 which provides for a $1,500-a-year tax credit for students attending two-year schools. S. 50 has the cosponsorship of the majority leader, Senator Lott, and Senators Connie Mack, Lary Craig, Harry Reid and Jim Jeffords. Just last week, at the Republican National Committee annual dinner, House Speaker Newt Gingrich listed vocational training as one of the four top priorities for our budget resolution. S. 50 will encourage workers in all age brackets to pursue an education beyond high school without incurring the costly expenses of attending a 4-year college. By improving the training and skills of our workers, we will create better jobs in manufacturing and technology throughout the United States. There is nothing more important to keeping competitive in the global marketplace.”