[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 13 (Wednesday, February 5, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H291]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     EDUCATION: A FEDERAL PRIORITY

  (Ms. DeGETTE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to give 
every child and adult in this country the same opportunity that all of 
us took for granted in our youth: A decent education. How many times 
does Congress need to hear the statistics illustrating that quality 
education is the underpinning of opportunity before it makes education 
a Federal priority?
  When my grandfather was a boy, his eighth grade education prepared 
him to be vice president of the Rio Grande Railroad. When my mother was 
a young woman, her college degree prepared her to teach. Today I know 
my two young girls will not have a chance to compete or even to live 
comfortably without significant higher education. Yet everyday in our 
country, another child is left behind, illiteracy rates soar, and 
higher education grows further out of the financial reach of thousands. 
It would be laughable if it was not unforgivable that the U.S. 
Government spends less than 1 percent of its money on education. I urge 
the House to take this issue up immediately and with vigor.

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