Political Quotes

“Just because one blind hog may occasionally find an acorn does not mean many other blind hogs will. The same principle applies to giving Federal Pell grants to prisoners. Certainly there is an occasional success story, but when virtually every prisoner in America is eligible for Pell grants, national priorities and taxpayers lose. That is especially true since the education department has no way to track success or even know for sure if a recipient is a prisoner. Pell grants were created to help low- and middle-income students get the education they need to improve their lives. With college tuitions skyrocketing and the workplace demanding more advanced education, those students must be our first priority. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Prisoner advocates say inmates get as much as $200 million a year in grants. Meanwhile, budget pressures have cut Pell grants to pre-1989 levels, squeezing out thousands of traditional students. Mr. Chairman, law-abiding students have every right to be outraged when a Pell grant for a policeman's child is cut but a criminal that the officer sends to prison can still get a big check. Even worse, there are documented cases of sham prison schools that are only interested using prisoners as tools to get grants, not to educate students. Mr. Chairman, criminal rehabilitation is important, but $500 million a year in State and Federal funds already go to prisoner education.”