[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 27, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H21]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1500
                         EDUCATION INITIATIVES

  (Mr. WYNN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WYNN. Mr. Speaker, welcome back. I would like to talk today about 
education. Tonight in the State of the Union the President is poised to 
talk about investing in education for the 21st century. I think he is 
right.
  Today, almost 60 percent of American citizens believe that the 
Federal Government is not investing enough in public education. Some 
would have us believe that the Federal Government is trying to take 
over education. That is not true.
  The facts are these: About one-third of the Nation's schools need 
extensive repairs. According to the GAO, 46 percent of our schools lack 
electrical wiring necessary for computers and telecommunications 
technology. Fifty-five percent of our schools lack phone lines for 
modems necessary to connect to the Internet. If we are to truly move 
into the 21st century, we need to invest in education, and I think the 
President is on the right track.
  He is also calling for investment in 100,000 new teachers. I think 
that is correct also. Right now in this country we have over 69,000 
provisional uncertified teachers working in our schools. We have 
crowded classrooms. Let us hire more teachers, improve our classrooms, 
let us improve in education.

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