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




     SAFE SCHOOLS FOR OUR CHILDREN--A COMMITMENT WORTH FIGHTING FOR

  (Ms. VELAZQUEZ asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, this month our Nation's children will 
return to school, but for many of these children a schoolroom is not a 
place to learn but a place to survive. Like our roads and bridges, our 
Nation's schools are crumbling.
  In my district in New York, children are trying to learn in 
conditions that we should be ashamed of, crumbling walls, leaking 
roofs, and overcrowding. How can a child be expected to learn to read 
and write when the walls are literally falling down around them?
  Earlier this year the Republicans killed our plan to provide $10 
billion to help rebuild our schools. The Republicans seem to think that 
it is OK for children to study in trailers and closets.
  Democrats are committed to making sure that every child in this 
country has a modern, safe school in which to learn. This is a 
commitment we have made to our children, and it is a commitment worth 
fighting for.

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