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7346201
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Statement by the President on S. 2657 - the Education Amendments of 1976 [Ford Speech or Statement]
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7346201
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document
title
Statement by the President on S. 2657 - the Education Amendments of 1976 [Ford Speech or Statement]
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collections
White House Press Releases (Ford Administration)
Press Releases
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U.S. Senate. (03/04/1789 - )
Legislation
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7346201
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13
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1976-10-13
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10
year
1976
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nara-archive
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463d37eb671d5e8c
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Digitized from Box 32 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCTOBER 13, 1976
Office of the White House Press Secretary
THE WHITE HOUSE
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
I have approved S. 2657, the Education Amendments
of 1976. I have done so with some reluctance because
parts of the legislation are unwise and others contain
authorization levels which we cannot realistically ex-
pect to meet. I have signed the legislation, however,
because of the positive elements it contains and because
most of its worst elements are readily susceptible to
corrective legislation in the next session of Congress.
S. 2657 makes a number of positive changes to our
education laws. I applaud the steps taken toward program
consolidation in the Vocational Education Amendments.
This is fully consistent with my broader effort to achieve
consolidation of educational programs. I hope the incentives
provided in this bill to increase State participation in
the Guaranteed Student Loan program will fulfill their
potential, and that the experimental program which con-
solidates at the State level, the student application
process of the Federal Basic Educational Opportunity Grant
program with that of similar State grant programs will
demonstrate the merit of returning such responsibilities
to the State and local level.
Numerous Administration initiatives designed to curb
fraud and abuse in student assistance programs, particularly
the Guaranteed Student Loan program, were adopted. Other
needed Administration recommendations to reduce sex-stereotyping
in vocational education programs were also adopted.
However, I particularly regret the inclusion of the
so-called trigger mechanism which operates to divert funds
from student assistance to clearly undesirable forms of
institutional assistance, which the Congress itself has
not recently funded in a substantial way.
In raising the maximum Basic Educational Opportunity
Grant from $1400 to $1800, effective in the 1978-79 school
year, the Congress may well have continued its penchant
for promising more than we can responsibly provide. I
am committed to the basic grant program, but I could not
at this time reasonably expect that in two years we could
fully fund this program at the new level.
There are other features in the bill which, I believe,
are objectionable and which should be changed.
Although it is generally the practice of Congress to
consider and pass major educational legislation only when
the previous authorizing legislation terminates, I would
ask that such not be the case with this legislation.
S. 2657 has serious deficiencies. I intend to forward to
the first session of the 95th Congress for their considera-
tion and action major revisions to this bill, especially in
the area of higher education, and I ask the support of those
who participated in the development of S. 2657 to assist in
its improvement.
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