George Voinovich: “I rise to support the inclusion of the District of Columbia School Choice Program contained within the fiscal year 2004…”

“I rise to support the inclusion of the District of Columbia School Choice Program contained within the fiscal year 2004 District of Columbia appropriations bill. I urge my colleagues to defeat any attempt to weaken or remove the program. I also rise to support the amendment of Senator Feinstein which strengthens that provision in the appropriations bill. First of all, I applaud the efforts of my friend, the senior Senator from Ohio, Mr. DeWine, for his efforts to expand school choice for the parents and schools of the District. I also applaud the leadership of Senator Gregg moving this issue forward. I also applaud Senator Feinstein for her courageous support of this program and her very thoughtful amendment to the amendment to the appropriations bill. My father, a first generation American, used to say that America enjoys more of the world's bounty than any other nation because of the free enterprise system and our educational system. This is true today as it was years ago. It we expect to remain competitive in the world marketplace and maintain our standard of living, this country needs to rededicate itself to the free enterprise and most importantly our educational system.”