CONGRESSIONAL UPDATE
105th Congress (1997)
POSSIBLE ELIMINATION OF SAFE AND DRUG FREE SCHOOLS BLOCK GRANTS (9/17/97)
On September 11 the Senate passed an amendment, to the Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education Appropriations Bill (S. 1061) that would consolidate into a gigantic block grant most of the Department of Education's K-12 programs, including the Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities program.
BACKGROUND
This new block grant would go directly to Local Education Agencies (school districts). None of the funds are set aside for state programs. The House version of the Labor, HHS, Education Appropriations bill will be considered on the floor today (9/17/97). The House bill does not currently contain the new block grant, but it could be offered as a floor amendment. A Conference Committee on the Labor, HHS, Education bill will be appointed in the next week or so to work out the differences between the House and Senate passed versions of the bill.
This new Education Block Grant includes absolutely no requirements or restrictions on how the funds are to be spent. This will seriously jeopardize the continuation of drug and violence prevention programs in schools and communities across the country. In addition, because the new program has no State or Governor's set asides, most statewide substance abuse prevention coalition networks could be wiped out.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
We need to flood both Houses of Congress with calls in opposition to this Block Grant proposal. Whether you have a member on the Conference Committee or not, call both your Senators and your Representative. Register your opposition to the inclusion of the Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities program into the Education Block Grant passed in S. 1061. If one or more of your members is on the Labor, HHS, Education Appropriations subcommittee (listed below) they will be on
the Conference Committee and make the final decision about whether to include this provision in the bill that goes to the President.
Call the Capitol Hill switchboard (202/224-3121) or send e-mail to tell your Senators and Representative that you oppose the new Education Block Grant contained in S. 1061, as passed by the Senate, because it would dismantle the nation's school and community based drug and violence prevention infrastructure at the same time that drug use among our youth is soaring. The Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities program must be excluded from this proposal. ENLIST AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE TO MAKE THESE CALLS. YOU CAN REACH YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS BY CALLING THE CAPITOL SWITCHBOARD AT (202) 224-3121. OR E-MAIL THEM AT: The U. S. House of Representatives and The U. S. Senate.
ACT NOW!
MEMBERS OF THE LABOR-HHS-EDUCATION APPROPRIATIONS CONFERENCE COMMITTEE
Senate Labor, Health and Human Services,
Education Appropriations Subcommittee
Republicans:
Arlen Specter (PA)
Thad Cochran (MS)
Slade Gorton (WA)
Christopher S. Bond (MO)
Judd Gregg (NH)
Lauch Faircloth (NC)
Larry Craig (ID)
Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX)
Democrats:
Tom Harkin (IA)
Ernest Hollings (SC)
Dale Bumpers (AR)
Harry Reid (NV)
Herb Kohl (WI)
Patty Murray (WA)
House Labor, Health and Human Services,
Education Appropriations Subcommittee
Republicans:
John Edward Porter (IL)
C.W. Bill Young (FL)
Henry Bonilla (TX)
Ernest Istook, Jr. (OK)
Dan Miller (FL)
Jay Dickey (AR)
Roger Wicker (MS)
Anne Northup (KY)
Democrats:
David Obey (WI)
Louis Stokes (OH)
Steny Hoyer (MD)
Nancy Pelosi (CA)
Nita Lowey (NY)
Rosa DeLauro (CT)
For more information on this issue, contact the Public Policy Office via e-mail at publicpolicy@ncadd.org.