Ehrlich on Washington column, September 22, 1996

NEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Second Congressional District of Maryland 1 407 York Road, Suite 304 Lutherville, Maryland 2 1 093 EHRLICH ON WASHINGTON By Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. 3 1 5 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Week of September 22, 1996 SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON EDUCATION Part of the message coming from liberals in Washington is that Congress is “cutting” student aid and other important educational programs. I’m here to tell you that the reality is much different. Over the past two years, Congress has voted to increase or maintain funding for every important federal student aid program. Additionally, Congress has worked to eliminate or modify those bureaucracies or programs that are outmoded and ineffective. The facts speak for themselves: • Under the balanced budget plan I supported, total funding for education, job training, and student loans will equal $340.8 billion over seven years. That is an 8.1 percent increase over the previous seven years -- when Congress was dominated by Democrats. • Asa past student loan recipient myself, I understand how important the federal student loan program is. That is why I voted to increase funding for student loans by 50 percent -- from $25 billion in 1995 to $36 billion in 2002. The number of available loans increases from 6.6 million in 1995 to 7.1 million in 2002. Moreover, I voted to increase the maximum Pell Grant Award to $2500 — the highest level in the program’s history. • States should be able to design their own solutions to the problems of substance abuse and violence among young people. That is why I voted to allocate $441 million in block grant funds to states under the Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities (SDFSC) program. I also