[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 119 (Wednesday, September 10, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H7124]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        SUPPORT PUBLIC EDUCATION

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, what are government-owned schools? Public 
education. And public education in this great Nation of ours has always 
been the great equalizer, for it is in fact public education that 
affords the child of a garment worker, like myself, the same 
opportunities as the children of university professors, political 
figures, and business leaders.
  Mr. Speaker, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would work 
as hard as they can to see the destruction of public education in this 
country. Today on this floor they will propose to cut Goals 2000, cut 
Whole School Reform, cut Safe and Drug Free Schools, vital initiatives 
that in fact, yes, have proven to work.
  That is why Democrats are fighting against these Republican efforts. 
These initiatives help to make our schools safer. They get parents more 
involved in education. They help school districts to buy new textbooks 
and train teachers, and they help our students to meet the high 
standards to ensure that they are learning the basics in reading and 
mathematics and writing.
  Mr. Speaker, that is the direction that we should be going in. I urge 
my colleagues to support and strengthen fundamental school reform and 
support our public education system.

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