Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Reauthorization Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. DeSANTIS. Mr. Speaker, at the end of the Civil War, Lincoln addressed the Ohio regiment and he said that the beauty of a free government is that it gives every individual an open field and fair chance for their intelligence, enterprise, and industry to flourish.

That was something that he could speak of firsthand because he had grown up in the backwater. When you start talking about places like Illinois and Kentucky, that was so far removed from the corridors of power at that time and then he ends up being the President of the United States, that would have been unheard of in a country in Europe.

I think right now, when you look at our country, you have people who are born and you are supposed to be able to make the most of your God- given abilities, no matter your circumstances. Some people are born into privileged circumstances, and some people aren't. But if they have the desire to succeed, they need to be able to do that in America.

Yet, what we find now is there are so many kids who grow up in communities that have really failing school systems, and I think the number one thing to be able to better yourself in our modern society is with education.

Now, of course, the Federal Government doesn't have jurisdiction over K-12 education for the States, and I think that that is proper. I think, at times, the Federal Government has needled into that, and I think it has been counterproductive.

We do have jurisdiction over the District of Columbia. You have some families who are really in dire straits. There is a big D.C. bureaucracy that is not performing up to expectations. So this program is a lifeline to those families.

The average income is $22,000 a year, which is not a lot in any community, but in Washington that is very, very little. It gives them a lifeline to be able to have an alternative school and maybe be able to make the most of their God-given ability.

Look, if the public school bureaucracy is doing well, then they can choose that. But if it is not and it is not working for them, then this gives them another option.

This is something that--having done the hearing at the school like we did on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, these are kids who are thrilled to be in these schools. I am just very happy to support this effort. I appreciate the chairman's work on this. We need to give every child the chance to succeed.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source