Congressman Issa Recognizes Contrabutions of Military Impacted Schools urges more support for impact aid

Congressman Darrell Issa, today, made the following statements in the Congressional Record on H. Res. 598, a resolution recognizing the contributions of military impacted schools:

"Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues in recognizing the contributions of military impacted schools. My district includes Camp Pendleton, the home of the First Marine Expeditionary Force, which has deployed to Iraq and has recently conducted major operations in cities throughout the Sunni Triangle, including Fallujah. The 1 MEF has participated in Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and is now serving in Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom II.

The schools that care for and educate the children of Camp Pendleton Marines provide vital educational and counseling services that have helped ease the stresses associated with this latest deployment. They provide military children with a normal daily routine - a critical need in this age when news from the front lines is brought home almost immediately.

They also have provided these children with an excellent education. Mary Faye Pendleton and San Onofre Elementary Schools, both of which are located on-base are the highest-performing schools in the entire Fallbrook Elementary School district. In addition, Oceanside Unified's three on-base schools were all recognized as California Distinguished Schools this past year.

I am proud of the teachers, administrators, staff, and volunteers of all the military impacted schools in my district. Oceanside Unified, Vista Unified, Fallbrook Elementary, Fallbrook High School, Bonsall Unified, Julian Unified, Valley Center Unified, and Warner Unified School District have all provided a great service to our men and women in uniform.

I am particularly proud of the way these schools have continued to provide quality education to these military children, despite major shortfalls in federal funding for Impact Aid, which funds military impacted schools. Every year we have a budget battle over Impact Aid.

We need to remind ourselves that military impacted schools are a critical element in the support of our military families. If we are going to recognize the importance of these schools to our military men and women serving overseas, we must support them with the resources they need to do their jobs well. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution and I yield back the balance of my time."

H.Res. 598 resolves that the House of Representatives recognizes the contributions of the teachers, administration, and staff of Military Impacted Schools and the Department of Defense Education Activity schools world-wide; and commends the teachers in military impacted communities who work on the front lines at home to educate students during times of peace and times of conflict.