[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 143 (Sunday, October 11, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H10518]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   REPUBLICANS PASSED 21 INITIATIVES GIVING GREATER CONTROL TO LOCAL 
                               EDUCATION

  (Mr. WELLER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WELLER. Mr. Speaker, as I look back over the last 2 years, one 
thing is very clear. The Republican majority in the House and Senate 
has given a 21-gun salute to education, passing 21 initiatives to give 
greater local control to local education and put dollars in the 
classroom. While the Democrats want to put more money in Washington 
bureaucracy, we want the dollars to the classroom. In fact, 30 cents on 
the dollars today that we appropriate here in Washington stay in 
Washington on government bureaucracy. Thanks to this Republican 
Congress we now have the lowest loan rates for student loans in 17 
years. We have been doubled that the last 3 years the amount of Pell 
grant, grant money to help low-income students go on to college, and we 
provided $500 million more this year for special education.
  Earlier this year, just 2 weeks ago, the House of Representatives 
passed an effort to save Social Security and to help education. Found 
it very interesting that the President called our efforts to make 
prepaid college tuition programs tax exempt, to help with school 
construction costs, the President calls that squandering that extra tax 
revenue and squandering the surplus.
  It is interesting our effort to help schools with the tax cut plan 
would have cost $7 billion in surplus. Our President wants to spend 
twice as much, $14 billion, on defense spending, the State Department 
and a computer fix for government bureaucrats.

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