BOSTON, Mass. – Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-PA) will challenge a distinguished British-American audience with his nationally-respected views on federal aid for educational opportunity in a unique debate program on Saturday, November 11.

The debate will highlight the four-day British-American Project Conference, which alternates each year between U.S. and British venues. It will be conducted for an audience of BAP Fellows and delegates at the Massachusetts State House chambers in Boston.

Congressman Fattah has been a Fellow of the British-American Project since attending his first conference as a delegate in 1989. The BAP invites young opinion leaders of both nations – under age 40 at the time they become Fellows – to reinforce ties between Britain and the United States and to explore issues of mutual concern. 

This year’s topic is Education. The formal debate, between two-person teams under Oxford-Union style rules, focuses on whether disparities in educational achievement can best be solved by greater federal or local governmental involvement.

Congressman Fattah, just re-elected to his seventh term representing parts of Philadelphia and Cheltenham, will argue for the larger federal role. He has been a leading advocate and creator of innovative programs for equal educational opportunity throughout his career.

He is the architect of GEAR UP -- Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs – which has provided about $2 billion toward the educational advancement of low-income students since its enactment in 1998. He has developed programs that provide support, encouragement and financial aid for students from elementary grades through graduate school, both nationally and in the Philadelphia area.