Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act

Floor Speech

* Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 471, the so-called Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act.

* When Republicans took over the House majority in January, they promised to uphold the Constitution--even going so far as to read it on the House Floor.

* They also pledged to reduce the deficit by fully offsetting any new discretionary spending. But the ideological legislation offered today breaks both promises.

* It also continues to push the extreme and reckless social agenda of the majority while failing to offer any bill to create much-needed jobs.

* As I have said before on this Floor, it is not enough to simply read the Constitution, but to abide by it, and carry out its charge. This bill violates a fundamental principle enshrined in the First Amendment of the Constitution--the Establishment Clause.

* This ``wall of separation,'' as Thomas Jefferson so famously put it, is ripped asunder by H.R. 471, which unabashedly funnels millions of public tax dollars to private religious schools.

* The bill compels the American public to spend its tax dollars to fund religious schools that do not have to adhere to important civil rights laws or federal statues requiring equality such as Title IX. This is simply unacceptable.

* We must defend the ``wall of separation'' between church and state as envisioned by our nation's founders and we must fight to uphold it for all Americans.

* H.R. 471 also violates the Republican leadership's ``CutGo'' promise.

* This completely unpaid for legislation would increase the federal deficit by $300 million to reauthorize and expand a program that has utterly failed to increase student achievement.

* What is even more appalling is the fact that Speaker Boehner is pushing the use of public dollars for private religious schools while at the same time slashing federal education funding by almost $5 billion in the majority's job-killing FY11 spending bill passed in February.

* Across the country public schools are still reeling from the great recession that helped create large state budget deficits.

* In fact, in my home state of Florida, the Republican Governor, is proposing an additional $2.3 billion in cuts to public education.

* Rather than turn our backs on students, we should be working together to improve public education, make sound investments balanced with smart cuts, and ensure that all students have access to instruction that will give them the tools they need to succeed in the 21st century.

* Instead, we stand here today debating a bill that doubles down on a failed Republican program in the District of Columbia which veers far away from these ideals.

* The Department of Education found that many of the students in the voucher program were less likely to have access to key services--such as English as a Second Language programs, learning support and special needs programs, counselors, or even teachers with a bachelor's degree.

* Democrats will continue to judge each piece of legislation that comes before the House by whether it creates jobs, strengthens our middle class, or reduces the deficit. H.R. 471 achieves none of these goals while also violating the Constitution.

* I urge my colleagues to vote no on this ill- conceived bill.

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