[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 21 (Tuesday, February 25, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H597]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HELP REPAIR OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS

  (Mr. McGOVERN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks and to include extraneous 
material.)
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, to prepare our children for the 21st 
century, our public schools must be safe and modern places to learn. 
Up-to-date schools send every student in America a clear message: You 
are important to us. We take your education seriously.
  A recent GAO report shows one-third of our Nation's schools need a 
major repair or outright replacement. To keep our children from growing 
up in schools that are falling down, President Clinton has proposed $5 
billion to help communities finance $20 billion in needed school 
construction over the next 4 years.
  Many of our schools were built over 50 years ago. They are rundown, 
overcrowded, and lack even the basic electrical wiring to support 
modern technology. In my own district, kids are going to schools that 
were built when Ulysses S. Grant was President of the United States.
  We have high expectations for our students, teachers, and schools, 
but we cannot expect our children and our teachers to build strong 
lives on a crumbling foundation.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a matter of real urgency. Support the 
President's proposal on school construction and modernization.

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