[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 48 (Tuesday, April 22, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S3464]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  SALEM COUNTY EDUCATION ANNIVERSARIES

 Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to 
the Salem County School District on a number of notable anniversaries. 
The year 1997 marks the 40th anniversary of the district, the 25th 
anniversary of the initiation of occupational, technical and vocational 
programs and services to secondary students and the 15th anniversary of 
the operation of the New Jersey Regional Day School at Mannington for 
the Department of Education.
  Mr. President, these anniversaries are especially significant because 
education is the key that will open the door to the future for our 
children. By the year 2000, 60 percent of all new jobs in America will 
require advanced technical skills. The industrial age has given way to 
the information age and, more than ever before, students need a quality 
education if they are going to be able to compete.
  But a quality education doesn't only benefit the individual, it also 
benefits our Nation. If our firms and factories are to find the 
educated workers they need, and if these same firms are to remain 
competitive in the global marketplace, then our students must receive 
the necessary training and skills. Our economic future depends on it.
  Mr. President, 300 years ago this year, the colony of Massachusetts 
passed the very first American education law. It required that every 
town of at least 50 people hire a teacher of reading and writing. Those 
first colonists, huddled in their tiny villages along the Atlantic 
coast, understood the importance of education for their children and 
for their communities. And ever since, making ourselves the best 
educated Nation on Earth has always been the very essence of our 
American dream. The work of the Salem County School District, and the 
Salem County Vocational Technical Schools, is helping to ensure that 
this particular American dream remains an American reality.
  To the students of Salem County, I say don't ever forget that there's 
always more to be learned, always more to be seen, always more to be 
explored. And to the Salem County Board of Education, the Salem County 
School District, and the Salem County Vocational Technical Schools, I 
say congratulations and continue your fine work.

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