[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 81 (Friday, June 19, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H4842]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          THE PROBLEM IN EDUCATION IS NOT A QUESTION OF MONEY

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, will we ever learn from history?
  Last year the liberal Democrats said, ``We need to spend more money 
on education because it will improve the education of our children.'' 
And so Congress voted to do so. The year before that, the message was 
exactly the same: Spend more money. And Congress did.
  And the year before that, we heard the same arguments: Spend more 
money, and children will do better in school. And Congress did.
  And the year before that, the liberals were in full cry demanding 
that more money be spent on education because that will surely improve 
student performance. And indeed Congress bowed to those demands.
  But somehow we have still failed schools, and student performance is 
as dismal as ever.
  My question is to the other side: At what point do they conclude that 
the problem in education is not a question of money? Is the other side 
utterly incapable of thinking seriously about the question, or will no 
amount of failure, absolutely no amount of evidence, ever have the 
slightest impact on their thinking?
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of any thinking time they may 
have.

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