[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 126 (Tuesday, August 1, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H8076]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       EDUCATION CUTS NEVER HEAL

  (Mr. BAESLER asked and was given permission to address the Houses for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. BAESLER. Mr. Speaker, as we begin to consider the Labor-HHS-
Education appropriations bill, I am reminded of the oft-quoted and 
foreboding statement in the 1983 report ``A Nation at Risk'':

       If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on 
     America the mediocre educational performance that exists 
     today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war. As it 
     stands, we have allowed this to happen to ourselves. We have 
     even squandered the gains in student achievement made in the 
     wake of the Sputnik challenge.
      Moreover, we have dismantled essential support systems which 
     helped make those gains possible. We have, in effect, been 
     committing an act of unthinking, unilateral educational 
     disarmament.

  The spending bill that we are asked to consider is nothing less than 
a continuation of this disarmament. We are being asked by our 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle to cut spending on education 
and training by $36 billion over 7 years--$520 million in cuts to 
Kentucky alone. Ask any kid what cuts are. They know cuts hurt. We are 
being asked to believe that these are the kind of cuts that can heal 
this Nation. I believe these are the kind of cuts that will never heal. 
They will be with us for generations to come.

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