[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 119 (Wednesday, September 10, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H7126]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    FIGHT TO IMPROVE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

  (Mr. ETHERIDGE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to call on this Congress to 
support our public schools. As the first member of my family to 
graduate from college, I know firsthand that quality public education 
is the key to the American dream, an opportunity for all children, not 
just the privileged few or those who have funds.
  As a former superintendent of my State's schools, I know that 
educating all of our children is the key to America's strength and our 
Nation's security.
  There is a lot of arguing in Washington today about the role of the 
Federal Government in education. But I have spent many hours in the 
classrooms of my State. No child has ever asked me who paid for the 
books, who paid for the building or who paid for the computer. Children 
only know what they have received or whether or not they have been 
denied an education. We must stop this bickering over the role of the 
Federal Government. These are our children. They are America's 
children.
  We have a responsibility to make sure that they have the opportunity 
for a good education. We must build new schools, rebuild old ones, 
raise education standards, involve parents in education, improve the 
quality of our teachers, and make our schools safe. We can become the 
education Congress.

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