[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 148 (Wednesday, October 29, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H9630]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HOUSE TO VOTE ON EDUCATION INITIATIVES

  (Mr. GUTKNECHT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, today and most of this week we are going 
to be voting on education initiatives. I want to call my colleagues' 
attention to what has been happening back in my home State of 
Minnesota. Our Governor, Arne Carlson, decided several years ago that 
ultimately what we need to do was empower parents and decentralize what 
is happening in education. The net result is in this year's legislature 
back in Minnesota, they passed some of the most wide-ranging tax 
reforms I think in any State in the Union. I am proud of that. Most 
parents in the State of Minnesota are proud of it as well.
  What they included was tax credits and tax deductibility, making it 
easier for parents to send their kids to the school that they choose, 
not that is chosen for them. They made it easier for them to buy 
equipment for their students, including computers, and so forth.
  This is a giant step forward. It reinforces, I think, what we are 
trying to do here in Washington, what parents want and what ultimately 
most people know is best for children, and that is to decentralize the 
school system, empower parents and create school systems that serve 
students rather than serving bureaucracies.

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