[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 118 (Tuesday, September 9, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H7021-H7022]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      DEMOCRATS FAVOR MORE INFRASTRUCTURE MONEY FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS

  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)

[[Page H7022]]

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the real issue is, I believe, 
my Republican colleagues have lost their way to school. Rather than 
filling up the Labor-HHS bill with all kinds of distracting issues 
dealing with education, they do not realize that our children are in 
crumbling schools, our children are in schools that are overcrowded.
  School enrollment in the United States last year broke the all time 
high record set by baby boomers in 1971 and has continued to grow. A 
new Department of Education report found more than 52 million children 
enrolled in our schools, and yet Republicans rejected the idea of 
Democrats that wanted to infuse infrastructure money into our 
communities so that we could rebuild our schools.
  Do my colleagues realize that our schools in America need extensive 
repair, that our children are being threatened by peeling paint, 
falling ceiling tiles, and crumbling walls? Our Republican friends will 
mess up the Labor-HHS bill and fill it with all kinds of amendments 
that are not relevant to providing protection for our children.
  Yes, our Republican friends have lost their way to school. We, the 
Democrats, will find our way, continue to support public education, 
provide for moneys to improve and encourage our children to learn the 
right way, the safe way, and rebuild the falling infrastructure in our 
public schools. That is finding our way to schools in America and that 
is the side Democrats will be on.

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