[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 54 (Wednesday, April 24, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H3734]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          IMPROVING THE NATION

  (Mr. FRANKS of Connecticut asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FRANKS of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, like a chain, in order to 
improve our Nation we must strengthen even the weakest links in our 
society. By doing so it would make it more likely that under known or 
unknown pressures, we would be able to pull together rather than fall 
apart as a nation.
  Hope and opportunity are key elements. They go hand in hand with 
success. It is hard to have one without the other. However, for many in 
our inner cities, opportunities seem limited. Thus hopelessness often 
creeps into their lives, and the prospect of success becomes nothing 
more than a pipe dream. We as leaders owe our society much more, but, 
unlike the beliefs of many, we do not have to throw taxpayers' dollars 
at the problem. There are other solutions.
  Mr. Speaker, I will soon be offering initiatives that in a meaningful 
way will attempt to address these grave concerns.

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