Trey Gowdy: “Earlier this year, this body debated and ultimately approved legislation authorizing scholarships to give needy District…”

“Earlier this year, this body debated and ultimately approved legislation authorizing scholarships to give needy District of Columbia students the opportunity to leave their public school and enroll in a private school of their choice. Following the House's approval of the SOAR Act, the legislation was enacted into law as a part of the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, which was signed by the President on April 15. We are here today because there are several small and technical modifications that need to be made in order for the scholarship program to achieve its goal. This legislation would clarify three provisions: first, the education requirements for teachers of scholarship students; second, how the nationally norm-referenced test would be administered in order to properly collect data to study the effectiveness of the program; and, third, which students participate in the study. On November 3, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform approved H.R. 3237, the SOAR Technical Corrections Act, by a voice vote. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to thank my colleague, Ms. Norton, and my colleague, Ranking Member Cummings, for working with us to ensure we had the appropriate language to modify the legislation that is before us today. With that, I reserve the balance of my time.”