[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 143 (Sunday, October 11, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H10525-H10526]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        ON THE EDUCATION AGENDA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Hawaii (Mrs. Mink) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MINK of Hawaii. Mr. Speaker, I think it is a very unusual 
occasion that we are experiencing today, that this House would be 
engaged in discussing important issues on a Sunday. It is even more 
unusual because we had expected to adjourn on October 9, Friday. We 
were given a calendar that so indicated.
  The reason that we are all here on a Sunday and expect to even be 
meeting on a Federal holiday tomorrow is that the Republican-controlled 
Congress has not been able to work out its own differences with respect 
to very, very important bills, particularly those that the Constitution 
requires that we pass before we go home having to do the funding of 
government.
  I rise today to pay special attention to the items that I am 
concerned with on the education agenda. I came to the Congress 
initially in 1965 because I was deeply concerned about the future of 
education at that point. Ever since then in the 20 years that I have 
served in Congress, I have spent almost the entire time by serving on 
the education committee. I also serve on budget. I asked to be assigned 
to budget because I felt that so many of the issues that related to 
education were dependent upon funding. So some years ago I sought a 
seat on the Committee on the Budget and I was so honored to serve. We 
worked very hard. We produced our budget resolution and for the first 
time since the budget process was enacted in the early 1970s, this is 
the first time that the Congress has not voted on a budget resolution.
  So something is happening within the Republican majority that has 
caused us to be here today on a Sunday and not to be able to finish on 
time. One of the major bills that we have not been able to pass is the 
Labor, HHS, Education appropriations bill. It never came out of our 
House Committee on Appropriations and it is still locked in tremendous 
disagreement within the Republican conference, as well as with the 
Senate and with the administration and with House Democrats.
  Earlier there were comments about the President's schedule and how he 
was not attending to the business at hand. I would like to say that 
this Congress has a record of only being in session 106 days this 
entire year up to Friday, October 9. This is a record of

[[Page H10526]]

sorts. I have not gone through all the history, but certainly this must 
be a record of inattention to the country's business and certainly by 
the number of bills enacted, this is one of the shabbiest of all 
records. We have only enacted 241 bills.
  So getting back to the appropriations bills, I want to point out some 
of the real differences. The appropriations bill, as it came out of our 
House Committee on Appropriations, cut about $2 billion from the 
administration's education budget initiatives. Goals 2000, for 
instance, the school reform bill, the appropriations bill cut funding 
for Goals 2000 by $245 million or by 50 percent below fiscal year 1998 
levels. It would have reduced the ability of 6,000 schools to serve 3 
million students nationwide to implement the school reform efforts. 
Goals 2000 has been a primary target of the Republican majority. It was 
one of those programs that was included in the so-called Dollars to the 
Classroom effort which eliminated, consolidated 31 programs into one 
gigantic block grant authorizing the States to spend that money in any 
way they wished.
  So here again Goals 2000 has been cut back. School to work cuts, the 
appropriations bill cuts funding for school to work by $250 million, 63 
percent below fiscal year 1998 levels, undermining the ability of over 
a million students in 3,000 high schools to experience this exemplary 
program. Here again, schools to work was one of the programs listed in 
the Dollars to the Classroom bill which consolidated 31 programs in a 
block grant. So again the appropriations bill kind of expresses the 
sentiment of the Republican majority that they want to wipe out this 
program.

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