U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf on Thursday lobbied Congress hard for the District’s school voucher program and gang prevention in Northern Virginia.
The Virginia Republican called the administration’s opposition to the D.C. voucher program an “inconsistency.”
“You’re splitting families up, you’re dividing families,” he said to Attorney General Eric Holder, adding that a sister may be able to attend one school, while a brother may not.
The D.C. voucher program, initiated in 2004, uses federal funding to issue scholarships for students from low-income families to attend private schools.
Congress recently cut off funding for the program after the upcoming school year.
“Do not negate the opportunities for these young kids who live in the inner city,” Wolf said to Holder during a hearing of the commerce, justice and science subcommittee, which he sits on.
Wolf also spoke about gang prevention, a topic he has worked on for some time. In 2004, he secured $3 million in federal funds to help combat gangs in Northern Virginia.
“Had we not done this, crime would have been rampant much more so,” he said. Wolf also mentioned the efforts of the Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force, formed in 2003 and composed of law enforcement officials from a handful of counties in Northern Virginia.
“Obviously there is a gang problem here that we have to deal with,” Holder said.
