[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 144 (Monday, October 12, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H10643]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   CONGRESS SHOULD ADDRESS THE EDUCATION INITIATIVE OF THE PRESIDENT 
                           BEFORE ADJOURNING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, once again today the House was forced to 
pass a continuing resolution because of the fact that the Republican 
leadership has not gotten the job done this year in terms of the budget 
and a number of other issues that we as Democrats feel should be raised 
or should have been raised, certainly, over the last 2 years, and 
should have had full debate, but certainly should be addressed in some 
fashion before we adjourn.
  Most important on that list is the education initiative. This is the 
initiative that President Clinton announced in his State of the Union 
address last year when he talked about the need on the local level to 
provide money for school modernization.
  The fact of the matter is that across this country there are schools, 
and in fact, almost every school district has the need to upgrade their 
school buildings, either because they have to build additional 
buildings, or because of upgrades necessary just for simple things like 
computers or new high technology that require new wiring in the school 
building.
  Every school district around the country could benefit in some way 
from the initiative that President Clinton announced whereby tax 
credits, in essence, will be given to the local school districts so 
they would find it easier to bond to upgrade and modernize their 
schools.
  In addition to that, the President's initiative to hire 100,000 
additional teachers in order to reduce class size in the formative 
years from grades 1 through 3 is another initiative that the 
Republicans, the Republican leadership, has ignored, has refused to 
bring to the floor of the House, has really refused to even consider in 
committee, at hearings, or at markups.
  We know, in fact a number of research studies have come out, 
important ones over the last year, that have indicated very strongly 
that if we take children at a young age, even younger than grade one, 
even in preschool, and give them a lot of attention, and manage to have 
teachers devote the time, if you will, on a regular basis through 
diminished class sizes, that the result will bear fruit; that we will 
have smarter children and we will also have a safer atmosphere, because 
with a smaller class size it is a lot easier, I would say, to manage 
the children and manage the school.
  What we are doing here is trying to, in many ways, model this program 
to reduce class size and hire 100,000 additional teachers very much on 
the President's COPS grant program that was passed a few years ago, and 
that has resulted in many additional policemen being hired in 
communities around the country, and has actually brought the crime rate 
down in most of these jurisdictions.
  All we are really saying, Mr. Speaker, is that the time has come now, 
and I know that I do not have to keep repeating over and over again 
that the Republican leadership basically wasted a lot of time this year 
refusing to address education, refusing to address HMO reform, refusing 
to address the need to deal with social security, because we know that 
the money is not all going to be there in a few years unless we do 
something.
  So we are not going to be able to address all of these issues in the 
last few days, but at least let us take the opportunity to do something 
to invest in education, because when I go back to my district, and I 
was there over the weekend again, back in New Jersey, a lot of the 
people, a lot of the constituents that I speak to, and certainly 
educators, say to me that if we do not start a Federal partnership, if 
the Federal Government does not start to play an increased role in 
education, then the funding is not going to be there and the 
opportunities are not going to be there for young Americans in the 
future. This is our future. This is what is so important for our 
country.
  I just wanted to say, in addition to that, that I have been very 
disappointed with the fact that we are about to end this session and 
have not addressed the major health care issue of the day. That is the 
need for HMO reform.
  Some of us last week on the House side, some of the Democrats on the 
House side, marched over to the Senate on the day when the Senate 
minority leader, Mr. Daschle, tried to bring up the Patients' Bill of 
Rights. He brought it up and there was a vote. Unfortunately, there was 
no opportunity. The opportunity to bring it up was defeated on the 
floor.
  But I think it is a shame, because we know, and I am sure every one 
of us knows, that when we go around the country and when we talk to our 
constituents, probably the number one issue that they are concerned 
about is the need for reform of managed care.
  So many people have not had operations or procedures that they think 
are necessary; have been told that they have to leave the hospital 
sooner than their physician tells them that they should. The fact of 
the matter is that all the Democrats are really asking for in the 
Patients' Bill of Rights legislation is a commonsense approach. That 
should be heeded. That should be heeded by the House Republican 
leadership.

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