[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 34 (Wednesday, March 13, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H2128]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              REPUBLICANS DECLARE WAR ON EDUCATION FUNDING

  (Mr. MENENDEZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I would like to draw attention to the war 
that has been declared on education funding at the elementary, 
secondary, and postsecondary levels by the Republican majority.
  If the Republican majority's continuing resolution is extended at its 
current level, it would mean a $3.3 billion cut in education programs 
from the fiscal year 1995 level, and this would be a devastating blow 
to many of the educational services our children depend on. For my 
State of New Jersey, this would mean a cut of $23.5 million to title I, 
$2.6 million to Safe and Drug-Free Schools, $2.2 million to goals 2000, 
$3.7 million to vocational education, $3.7 million to the professional 
development grant programs, $36 million in New Jersey alone cut in our 
children's educational future.
  The majority's war on education is coming at a time when New Jersey's 
unemployment rate is above the national average of 7.3 percent. It 
comes at a time when we ought to be preparing our children for a more 
globally integrated, more technologically advanced and more competitive 
workplace.
  Shortchanging our students today means shortchanging the National 
tomorrow. We should not be shutting down the Government, and we should 
not be shutting down our children's educational future.

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