[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 154 (Thursday, November 6, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H10109]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
              LET US GIVE PARENTS MORE CHOICE IN EDUCATION

  (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, there is a clear difference between the 
liberals' view of education and the initiatives of the Republicans in 
Congress. It is founded on our basic premise of our political rudder 
that steers us through the ocean of life. I think it is just a simple 
philosophical difference. The Republicans believe in people. We trust 
the common sense that people possess, and the liberals trust the big 
bureaucracy.
  A good example is our effort to give parents more choice in selecting 
schools for their children. In a recent survey done by the American 
Viewpoint, 67 percent of the people agreed with the Republican 
initiatives who want to give parents more control over their children's 
education by allowing them to choose which schools their children 
attend and by giving them vouchers that will allow them to send their 
children to a private or religious school if they choose to do so, 
while only 28 percent agreed with the liberals who opposed the choice 
that parents would get.
  Mr. Speaker, competition will make the education system stronger. It 
has in our higher education system. We saw it after World War II with 
the bills that were available for soldiers to get higher education. So 
let us give parents more choice in education.

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