Political Quotes

“Mr. President, today I call attention to our Nation's education infrastructure. America's schools are in desperate need of repair. A 2014 report by the National Center for Education Statistics found that the U.S. needs to invest nearly $200 billion in school facilities just to bring them up to date. This echoed the findings of the American Society of Civil Engineers, who in 2013 gave American public school buildings a D-plus rating. Fortunately, there is a way for Congress to help facilitate these necessary improvements. The Qualified Zone Academy Bond (QZAB) program helps schools that serve low-income students pay for building renovations, facility upgrades, equipment purchases, and other expensive projects. QZABs provide tax credits to financial institutions who provide bonds or other debt instruments to qualified schools. These tax credits decrease interest payments for schools that take on debt to renovate their facilities. Since creating QZABs in 1997, Congress has consistently extended the program, even expanding it for a brief period between 2008 and 2010. But the program expired at the end of 2014. It is time Congress enhanced and made permanent this important tax credit. Today I will introduce the Rebuilding America's Schools Act. This bill would extend permanently the QZAB program and increase the allotted funding for the program from $400 million per year to the levels authorized under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act-- $1.4 billion.…”