[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 69 (Thursday, May 22, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H3172-H3173]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           MAKING EDUCATION THE TOP PRIORITY OF THIS CONGRESS

  (Ms. STABENOW asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. Speaker, I was pleased early Wednesday morning to 
join my colleagues in voting for the balanced budget agreement. The 
most important piece for me in that agreement is that we place 
education as number one both in terms of investment spending and, on 
the other side, in terms of tax breaks for families that are working 
hard to send their children to college.
  Now the real work begins. We have to make sure that we fulfill that 
promise to our families and our districts, and I would urge that as the 
Republican majority leads the efforts in the Committee on 
Appropriations and the Committee on Ways and Means that we keep our 
promise to focus on our children and on education.
  Mr. Speaker, our children need to be prepared to start school ready 
to learn. They need to be able to read. They need to have classrooms 
that have technology that prepare them for the future. They need to be 
able to go to college, be involved in apprenticeships and job training 
that allows them to be prepared for the future.
  Our challenge is to make sure that the promises that were in that 
agreement and the opportunities presented

[[Page H3173]]

actually happen, and I would urge my colleagues to work hard to make 
education the top priority of this Congress.

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