Byrne center-stage at Trump’s White House education roundtable

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December 9, 2019

Congressman Bradley Byrne (AL-01) on Monday participated in an education roundtable discussion at the White House with President Donald Trump and the likes of Vice President Mike Pence, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX).

Byrne, a member of the House Education and Labor Committee, earlier this year introduced an educational choice bill backed by the Trump administration and included in the administration’s budget proposal this past spring. Called the Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act, H.R. 1434 would give students and parents nationwide the freedom to make educational decisions that are right for them by building upon the Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO) model already used successfully in Alabama.

Trump reportedly invited Byrne to feature at Monday’s roundtable based on his sponsorship of this legislation. Cruz is sponsoring the legislation in the Senate.

In a statement, Byrne said, “I thank President Trump for his trust in me to lead his school choice bill in the House. Every student deserves a high quality education, and President Trump is making great progress towards improving our education system by putting American students first.”

“No student deserves to be locked into a poor education outcome, and expanding education choices and freedom through this new tax credit will go far towards removing roadblocks to quality education. This bill should have bipartisan support, and I pledge to continue working with Secretary Devos and Senator Cruz to get it passed and signed into law by President Trump,” he concluded.

H.R. 1434 currently has 85 cosponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives.

.@realDonaldTrump is taking unprecedented action to give students the choice to escape underperforming schools and get the education outcomes they deserve. Thank you Mr. President for asking me to lead your bill in the House and for asking me to join you today at the White House! pic.twitter.com/zvHcHNFlFr

— Rep. Bradley Byrne (@RepByrne) December 9, 2019

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn

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