[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 120 (Thursday, September 11, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H7205]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              EDUCATION IS THE GREAT EQUALIZER IN AMERICA

  (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, there are certain ideas that are 
quintessentially American: Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; the 
notion that every American child, rich, poor, boy or girl, every 
American child is entitled to a public education. It is one of the 
things that makes this Nation great.
  So, frankly, I have been dismayed and, quite frankly, disgusted by 
the assault on public education being waged by my colleagues on the 
other side of the aisle.
  Mr. Speaker, yesterday, quite frankly, I could not believe my ears 
when I heard the gentleman from Colorado refer to public education as 
``a monopoly,'' ``government-owned schools,'' and even making reference 
to public education and public schools in this country as part of a 
``communist legacy.''
  Mr. Speaker, they should be ashamed. Access to public education is 
one of the most precious and fundamental privileges of American life. 
It is irresponsible, it is simply wrong to imply that America's public 
schools are ``Communist.''
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my Republican colleagues to stop their efforts to 
not only defund but, in fact, to degrade American public schools and 
American public education. It has been the great equalizer in this 
great Nation of ours.

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