[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]




                      SCHOOL CHOICE IS THE ANSWER

  (Mr. BOB SCHAFFER of Colorado asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BOB SCHAFFER of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, if we were a manufacturer 
that produced an inferior product, what would we think if we had to 
face real competition for the first time? My guess is that we would 
feel the same as those government-owned schools which are absolutely 
terrified by school choice.
  Mr. Speaker, they are terrified by school choice because they know 
that kids whose parents do not have the money to move or to send their 
kids to a private school have no choice but to send their kids to 
another government school where they have to pass through metal 
detectors, where there is no order in the classroom, and where the idea 
of standards and accountability leave them lagging behind their 
international peers.
  Government-owned schools have a complete monopoly, plain and simple, 
and all monopolies fear competition. I can 100 percent guarantee an 
inferior product of any human endeavor if producers are shielded from 
competition, if producers are not forced to innovate and improve.
  Mr. Speaker, just look at the Communist legacy in every single case, 
especially education. The bureaucrats who just love their government-
owned schools and want to protect their monopoly will do so at just 
about any cost, regardless of whether kids have to receive an inferior 
education and blighted futures.
  Mr. Speaker, it is wrong and I have lost patience with those who 
refuse to do best for the kids. School choice is the answer.

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