[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 128 (Tuesday, September 23, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H7612]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 THE MEMORY PROBLEM AT THE WHITE HOUSE

  (Mr. CHABOT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I think I am beginning to understand what 
the problem in education is today. It is pretty clear that everyone in 
the White House was educated in the 1960's style feel-good mushiness 
where rote memorization was taboo. How else to explain the astounding 
number of times the White House officials say ``I don't recall, I can't 
remember'' whenever they are asked to testify about all the various 
White House scandals under investigation.
  Mr. Speaker, what else are we to conclude if even the so-called best 
and brightest seem to have no capacity whatsoever to recall simple 
facts about the misdeeds of their employees? Is this perhaps a medical 
condition that we should be aware of, some kind of environmental 
problem in the water over at the White House that strikes at the very 
heart of the memory process?
  Mr. Speaker, the ``I do not recall'' problem over at the White House 
should not be allowed to infect the rest of the Nation, especially as 
children everywhere are heading back to school. Children should be 
taught that memory skills are important, too, that rote memorization 
that many of us had to do in schools, even if they are in short supply 
down at the White House.

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