[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 7 (Wednesday, February 2, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 2, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
          INVESTMENTS IN OUR FUTURE: WHERE ARE OUR PRIORITIES?

  (Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, yesterday America's 
future suffered a significant setback.
  The Clinton administration's proposal to restructure the Chapter 1 
funding formula was rejected in subcommittee by a number of my 
colleagues.
  The single largest Federal educational program, chapter 1 was 
originally designed as a supplemental resource for the poorest of this 
Nation's poor children.
  The Clinton plan merely concentrated our very scarce resources to 
where the need is the greatest, in areas with the highest population 
concentrations of low-income children.
  Who are these children? These are the children whose family incomes 
fall below $10,000 a year; these children are most likely to live with 
a single parent; rural or urban, these children are most likely to drop 
out of school.
  It was the intent of President Lyndon Baines Johnson that this 
program would target its resources to those who needed it most.
  In my district, 49 schools, with student populations from 
impoverished families in excess of 50 percent receive no chapter 1 
funds.
  Nationwide 90 percent of all school districts receive Chapter 1 
assistance regardless of how wealthy the district may be.
  I raise the concern about the defeat of the Clinton administration 
proposal because in a time when we are told to tighten our belts and 
pinch every penny, we can afford to spend $22 billion on a crime 
package that builds more prisons.
  I'm not opposed to cracking down on crime and eliminating violence in 
this country but I've always believed that education and job training 
are the best crime fighters around.
  Helping children to excel in school, teaching them that they have a 
value in society, and that society values them is the best investment 
we can make.
  I hope my colleagues agree with me on this issue and urge them to 
reflect carefully as they continue their work in developing a new 
formula.
  I yield the balance of my time.

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