[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 115 (Thursday, September 4, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H6804-H6805]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              GET OFF THE TEST ISSUE AND BACK TO EDUCATION

  (Mr. GREEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GREEN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague 
from Michigan, and I agree education should not be a partisan issue. In 
fact, the bipartisan budget agreement, the education tax cuts to help 
parents prepare to send their kids to college, increased Pell grants, 
HOPE scholarships, put our money where our values are. That was 
bipartisan although it was not part of the original budget package 
until Democrats talked about it. But now he is right; we need to focus 
our attention on kindergarten through the 12th grade, public education.
  Voluntary national standards should be adopted by the States. Many 
States are already doing it. Texas has already

[[Page H6805]]

done this. Education is a national concern, but a State and local 
responsibility. But Congress needs to help. Congress needs to provide 
assistance to those parents and those teachers and those principals and 
those people who are working every day to provide that quality 
education.
  The Republican majority was convinced last month, or in July, that 
college education was helped. Now the American people need to convince 
this Congress we need to work on public education, kindergarten through 
12th grade.
  We talk about national tests today, but we are not talking about 
really quality education. Let us get off the test issue and get back on 
just talking about education.

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