Jack Fields: “The Pell Grant program is a $6.3 billion program, but last year it suffered a $250 million shortfall. The Department of…”

“The Pell Grant program is a $6.3 billion program, but last year it suffered a $250 million shortfall. The Department of Energy estimates, and this is a very conservative estimate, that Pell Grants to prisoners constitute at least a $73 million-per-year expenditure. Or, if you multiply this over 5 years, it is over $365 million, taxpayer dollars, going to prisoners every 5 years. So if you want to look at the whole situation, if you want to have a reality check, I think you can crystallize that into one simple question that each Member should ask him or herself: Can you justify spending a third of a billion dollars over a 5-year period, to your constituents, for Pell Grants for prisoners?”