Tennessee Education Lottery

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, before I was elected to Congress I served 24 years in the Tennessee State Senate. For 20 of those years I worked hard to create a Tennessee education lottery, an opportunity for students to go to college and come out without a debt and without having to have a job when they were in college to succeed.

Next Monday will be the 10th anniversary of the Tennessee Education Lottery. It has raised over $2.8 billion for education, yet, with education costs rising, it is still not enough.

We, in Congress, need to work hard to make sure that Pell Grants increase and that Pell Grants go to students at not-for-profit schools and those for-profit schools that graduate students and get them gainful employment.

Ladders of opportunity for the middle class are paved through education. The Tennessee Education Lottery is one of those ways.

I continue my work in Congress working for Pell Grants and other opportunities to see that monies are efficiently channeled to students to give them an opportunity to improve their lives.

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