September 6, 1972 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS 29617 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS TESTIMONY OF DR. EUGENE LINSE public Elementary and Secondary Schools. Mohammedans, Baptists, Methodists, non­ Members of both political parties recognize believers, Presbyterians, or members of any this need. Both are currently advocating the faith because of their faith or lack of it, concept o:( educational tax credits as a Con­ from receiving the benefits of public welfare HON. JOSEPH E. KARTH stitutional way of aiding these parents who legislation." OF MINNESOTA now face the difficult task of meeting increas­ (3) there is no entanglement of Govren­ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ing tuition costs. H.R. 16141 possesses ele­ ment with religion in this Act; there is ments found in all 41 bills on tax credits nothing different here than in any tax credit Wednesday, September 6, 1972 that have been introduced in Congress while or deduction currently allowed in law. Mr. KARTH. Mr. Speaker, the House they differ in details, they all have the same I wish to thank you for this opportunity purpose: help these parents by giving them to present position of Citizens for Educa­ Committee on Ways and Means has been tional Freedom on pending tax credits legis­ holding hearings on a matter of impor­ at least some credit for their educational · expenses. H.R. 16141 opposes t~e $200 tax lation. tance-H.R. 16141-a bill that would credit per pupil. A much more realistic figure allow tax credits for parents of children would be $400 per pupil less than 50 percent attending private elementary and sec­ of the current expenditure alone in public CATCH 22, INDIAN STYLE ondary schools. education in the poorest of states. I am pleased that a distinguished mem­ Tax credits, except for educational ex­ ber of my congressional district, Dr. Eu­ penses, are not a new idea the Federal Gov­ ernment currently perinits credit for a va­ HON. ALAN CRANSTON gene Linse, the president of Citizens for riety of reasons, such as, for retirement in­ OF CALIFORNIA Educational Freedom, testified before the comes, for business investments, and certain IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES committee on a vital section of H.R. types of foreign taxes. 16141, title II. The Governme·nt allows large corporations Wednesday, September 6, 1972 I believe the testimony of Dr. Linse is credit for business expansion. Theologically Mr. CRANSTON. Mr. President, on of particular significance as we consider a loss in Federal revenue is incurred in grant­ February 2, 1972, I introduced a bill <S. this important legislation. With that in ing such credits actually, through the crea­ 3113) to declare that the United States mind I now place in the RECORD his testi­ tion of more employment by expansion, Gov­ ernment income is increased in succeeding holds in trust for the Bridgeport Indian mony and commend it to our colleagues: years through taxes received from such cor­ Colony certain lands in Mono County, TESTIMONY BY EUGENE LINSE, PH. D. porations and their employees. Another ex­ Calif. As President of Citizens for Educational ample is the credit granted to retired persons. I am extremely pleased that the In­ Freedom, I thank you for this opportunity to Here the purpose is to help our Senior Citi­ terior and Insular Affairs Committee, testify in regard to Bill H.R. 16141. CEF mem­ zens remain self-supporting. meeting in executive session this morn­ bership and its Board of Directors include Tax credits for expenses paid to nonpublic ing, ordered S. 3113 favorably reported. citzens of every race, creed and color. CEF has schools are very similar in nature. A limited, a 13-year record of support for nonpublic reasonable amount of tax credit will help I hope the Senate will move quickly to education. parents who wish to have their children at­ pass this bill. Without question, CEF endorses the philo­ tend such schools. The Supreme Court ruled The lands described in ·s. 3113 consti­ sophical position of the President and the in 1925 that parents have this right but today tute a small, 20-acre tract of vacant pub­ many Members of Congress who have en­ many of these parents, ·after paying their lic domain land, now managed by the dorsed this Bill. My testimony today is 'there­ share of taxes for public schools, are finan­ Bureau of Land Management, adjacent fore directed primarily to Title II of H.R. cially unable to exercise this right. to the town of Bridgeport in Mono 16141. How shall we summarize this argument? County, Calif. The intended beneficiaries Why aid such parents? Because nonpublic Nonpublic schools are a necessary part of the schools that these parents choose: Nation's educational system by providing of S. 3113 are the 60 members of the (1) provide freedom of choice; learn a competition and diversity, they are a safe­ Bridgeport Indian Colony. The bill en­ benchmark of our American ideology; guard against monopoly, perhaps even joys the support of the townspeople of (2) offer friendly and helpful competition against inefficiency, and save taxpayers 3 Bridgeport, and has been endorsed by to the public schools; beneficial to both re­ billion annually. Further, whether children the Mono County Board of Supervisors public sectors of American education on attend a church-related school or a public in a unanimous resolution adopted on every level; school is a moot question as long as the January 18, 1972. In addition, Congress­ (3) they supplement the public system and school meets educational requirements and educate 5 million children, and save the tax­ observes the regulations of the 1964 Civil man Harold T. Johnson, of California, payers 3 billion dollars annually, as Professor Rights Act. whose district includes Mono County, Kraushaar has noted in his new book; Are tax credits Constitutional? We an­ has introduced legislation identical to S. (4) respond to the needs of minority groups swer: President Nixon thinks so, the Presi­ 3113 in the House of Representatives. in some of the large metropolitan areas these dential Commission thinks so, the large num­ That, in a nutshell, is a description of schools enroll one-third of all the students ber of you Congressmen and your colleagues S. 3113. Yet, it does not begin to tell the and are a stabilizing factor in changing think so, some leading constitutional lawyers whole story. I should like to take a few neighborhoods of the poor and lower middle think so. The Supreme Court has never ob­ class families; jected to the idea of tax credits in principle minutes, Mr. President, to provide the (5) most of these nonpublic schools in while rejected other forms of assistance. Senate with some historical data relating addition to the three R's also stress spiritual From these recent decisions, it is evident to California Indians, in general,· and and moral values in fashion not permitted to that the following criteria must be found in the Bridgeport Indian Colony, in partic­ Government-operated schools. any Act which provides aid: ( 1) the Act ular. I should also like to discuss briefly Far from being diverse over the course of must have a secular purpose; (2) the pri­ some of the issues raised by S. 3113 which our history, these schools have contributed mary effect of the Act must not inhibit or so concern the Department of the In­ to a wholesome variety in the educational advance the cause of religion; (3) the Act, terior that it has recommended against enterprise of this country and are an essen­ 1n its implementation, must not involve "ex­ cessive entanglement" of Government and enactment at this time. tial part of the school system. They have Mr. President, the history of the Fed­ helped us to avoid Government monopoly in religion. Tax credits legislation meets all of these criteria: eral Government's relationship with education. (1) the secular purpose is clearly the edu­ California Indians is one of promises un­ Congress, by amending the higher educa­ cation of children in those fundamental fulfilled and responsibilities ignored. tion bill a few weeks ago, found a way to skills required of all citizens; Most California Indians are landless to­ strengthen the position of nonpublic schools. (2) the primary effect of Title II of H.R. day because the United States refused to All institutions of higher learning, including 16141 is to help parents exercise their Con­ those sponsored by various religious denomi­ stitutional rights of selecting schools for ratify 18 treaties negotiated between nations, now benefit in capital expenditure their children. The Bill neither helps nor 1851 and 1852 by three Federal agents provisions and in a generous system of grants hurts religion, while a failure to enact such and the majority of California Indians. available to students in any of these colleges legislation may inhibit the free exercise of These treaties would have granted some and universities, up to $1,400 per student. religion. The Supreme Court has stated in 8.5 million acres of land to native Cali­ As yet something similar has not been the 1963 Sherbert Case: " ... No state may fornia Indians in exchange for their done for parents whose children attend non- exclude individual Catholics, Lutherans, agreement to relinquish claim to all oth- 29618 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS September 6, 1972 er State lands. And to add insult to in­ houses and share two outside water partment is saying to them tha,t they jury, the unratified treaties were lost in faucets which freeze during the winter cannot have a trust land base because the Senate's secret archives until 1906 where temperatures often dip to -30° in they are not now recognized, but they when they were discovered accidentally the Sierras.