Chairman Issa Lauds Introduction of Bipartisan D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Bill

WASHINGTON D.C. – Representative Darrell Issa, R-Calif., Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, issued the following statement lauding the introduction of the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results (SOAR) Act, legislation to reauthorize and save the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.

“The District of Columbia School Choice Incentive Act of 2003, which created the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, was a signature legislative achievement of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. In 2009, Congress and the Administration closed the program’s doors without so much as a hearing to examine the program’s effectiveness. Independent studies have proven that the program was popular with D.C. residents, cost-efficient, and most importantly, effective. Ninety-one percent of the children who participated in the program graduated high school. I applaud Speaker Boehner for making its restoration one of his top priorities, and I am honored to be joining this bipartisan effort as an original co-sponsor. I am glad that my counterpart in the senate, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, will be introducing the companion bill.”

The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has jurisdiction over “Municipal affairs of the District of Columbia in general (other than appropriations)” according to House Rule 10.

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