[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 148 (Wednesday, October 29, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H9628]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         GIVE PARENTS A CHOICE ON EDUCATION FOR THEIR CHILDREN

  (Mr. TIAHRT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TIAHRT. Mr. Speaker, if you want to improve the quality of 
computers, how would you go about doing it? If you wanted to see 
engineering innovations in the car you drive, what do you think might 
produce them? And if you wanted to see your daughter become a national 
caliber gymnast, what conditions might lead her to become one?
  The answer is quite simple. It is called competition. Humans respond 
in a positive way to competition because competition brings out the 
best in us. Competition makes us work hard. It forces us to achieve 
wonders that we never even dreamed possible.
  Microsoft, Ford, and Mary Lou Retton all responded to competition by 
changing the way they did things. Windows 95, the Taurus and Olympic 
gold medals are the products of endless striving, experimentation and 
the pressure to excel among one's competitors. Surely the education of 
our children is important, important enough to demand competition in 
this area of life, as well.
  It is time to let competition bring out the best in our children's 
education by giving parents a choice on which school their children 
attend. After all, Mr. Speaker, our children deserve the best.

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