[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 23 (Monday, March 7, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 7, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                IMPROVING AMERICA'S SCHOOLS ACT OF 1994

                                 ______


                               speech of

                           HON. DAVID R. OBEY

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 3, 1994

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 6) to extend 
     for 6 years the authorizations of appropriations for the 
     programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
     1965, and for certain other purposes:

  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of 
words.
  Mr. Chairman, I have represented an awful lot of migrant workers in 
the 24 years I have served in this House. I just have this observation. 
Local school districts do not set immigration policy, the Federal 
Government does. Local school districts do not have the responsibility 
to police America's borders, the Federal Government does.
  National politicians for years have expressed concerns about the 
inability of local school districts to produce quality education. How 
many speeches have we heard from national politicians bemoaning the 
fact that schools spend so much on administration in comparison to how 
much they actually deliver in the classroom. Yet this amendment would 
add to the very problem those people bemoan. It tells local educational 
institutions that they ought to take precious resources which ought to 
be focused on educating children and instead divert those resources to 
producing more paper which they can send to the Federal Government and 
other administrative agencies of Government.
  This amendment will not do anything to stop illegal immigration. It 
will simply impose added data-gathering burdens to no real positive 
purpose. It will probably discourage some immigrants from sending their 
kids to school out of fear of being reported.
  Let me tell you what I resent as much as anything. In my home town, I 
have thousands of refugees. They place a great new burden on the local 
school district in my home county, but my home city and my home county 
did not establish the immigration policy under which they came to the 
United States, the Federal Government did. Yet the local districts are 
being left holding the bag in terms of costs. The Federal Government 
has welshed on its responsibility to provide support for those 
immigrants, and the Federal Government is certainly not meeting its 
responsibilities to local districts if they are asking local districts 
to turn schools into policing agencies because a Federal agency has not 
done its own job.
  To me, the only real result of this amendment will be that it diverts 
needed resources from the classroom to administrative procedures, and 
it will, in the process, I think, help to increase polarization in 
local communities. I do not think either one of those developments 
would be constructive.
  I would ask, what is the purpose of this amendment. Because if the 
purpose is today to provide data on the number of children in those 
districts, what is the next step going to be? Is the next step then 
going to be to withdraw Federal support from the school districts who 
happen to be teaching these kids. Is that going to be the next step? 
Does that not in turn leave the local district holding the bag?
  It just seems to me that if we want to deal with immigration policy, 
do it on an immigration bill, do not do it on an education bill. We 
already demand far too much of our schools, besides providing an 
education. This is just another one of those demands. I do not believe 
it is constructive. I think Members ought to vote the amendment down.

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