[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 29 (Wednesday, March 6, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H1752]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       CUTS IN EDUCATION PROGRAMS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from North Carolina [Mrs. Clayton] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, we talk much about education, but we do 
not do very much. Consider these facts. In 1949, for every $10 the 
Federal Government spent, $1 was spent for education. For every $10 in 
1949 that we spent for education, $1 was spent for education. Now, 
today, for every $10 that the Federal Government spends, a little more 
than 1 dime--from 1949, from $1 we have moved to 1 dime--is spent for 
education.
  Where are our priorities in education? In 1949 America led the world 
in educational achievement. Today America trails nations like Europe 
and Asia. We are behind those nations now, perhaps because we failed to 
heed the words of T.S. Eliot then. Eliot said in 1935, ``Time present 
and time past are both perhaps present in time future, and time future 
is contained in time past.'' Let me repeat those profound words of 
Eliot's. ``Time present and time past are both perhaps present in time 
future, and time future is contained in time past.''
  What did Eliot mean by that statement? Let us examine the statement 
in the context of education. It is inconsistent to talk about building 
the future while tearing down the present. Yet, Members in this House 
seem ready to abandon education by making the largest cut in American 
history, cuts amounting to one-third of education spending, cuts that 
are three times as much as other cuts in their discretionary budget, 
cuts with overall funding for the Department of Education likely to be 
reduced by 25 percent.
  In essence, for time present, in this blind march, blind march to a 
balanced budget, we want us to ignore time past. But they are ignoring, 
as Eliot points out, both times, present time and past, and also they 
are ignoring our future. More importantly, they are ignoring Eliot's 
conclusion that time future is certainly contained in time past.
  If we truly want to preserve the future, we must, we must, first, not 
forget the past; and second, take care of the present. That is what 
Eliot meant. But we forget the past when we disregard how much of our 
budget we spent to make us a world power in education: 10 percent in 
1949, and now only 1.4 percent today. And we do not take care in the 
present when we are preparing to further slice education so deeply. We 
will also interfere with the future of this Nation's prosperity.

  Instead of cutting the education budget with regard to the impact of 
those cuts, I would urge my colleagues to go out from the comfort of 
these halls and visit American schools. Go see how those schools are. 
Many of them are in disrepair. I have students visiting me who have 
just left out of the gallery who are in private schools, and many of 
them have found that our public schools do not give them the 
opportunity. We are not investing in our education. Visit any of those 
schools in your district and see if you do not see a need that we are 
failing to assist our communities in meeting.
  What will be the impact of these massive education cuts on the future 
of education for our young people? More importantly, what will be the 
future of this country if we continue to not invest in education? What 
will these working families do if their children are not educated?
  We say we believe in families, yet we do not give them the very tools 
they need. How will these students learn when even more teachers are 
terminated under the pressures of these severe cuts? Already schools 
are receiving pink slips because they do not know what their budgets 
will be. How can they plan under the circumstances of this continued 
resolution?
  We talk about restoring family values. We talk about helping young 
people. Yet, our actions are inconsistent with what our words are. 
Recent national polls show that Americans overwhelmingly support 
education and believe it should be the top priority of this country.
  The American people agree with Eliot. Instead of a big tax cut for 
the wealthy, we should put more money in education for our children and 
for this Nation's prosperity. We must heed the words of Eliot, as true 
today as they were in 1935, and understand that the present and past 
shape the future. There can be no bright future without a brilliant 
past and a clear present.
  Mr. Speaker, we must stop these education cuts and make sure that we 
secure America's future and our children's prosperity.

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