[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 146 (Wednesday, October 14, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H10838-H10839]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    DEMOCRATS CONTINUE THE FIGHT FOR OUR CHILDREN AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS

  (Mr. EDWARDS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, the issue before this House is education, 
and the question is which party, the Republican party or Democratic 
party, best stands up for our Nation's public schools?
  Let me remind the American people, Mr. Speaker, what the Republicans 
would have had in the law had it not been for Democrats. They would 
have eliminated the Department of Education, the agency that 
administers Head Start and college student loans. They would have 
stolen money from public schools where 90 percent of our kids are 
educated to subsidize private schools, wealthy private schools in 
America's neighborhoods. They would have eliminated title I reading 
programs. They would have reduced funding for Head Start. They would 
have cut school nutrition programs for the children of low income 
working families. They would like us to forget that they tried to throw 
out funding for summer youth jobs. They wanted to get rid of the Safe 
and Drug-free School Program.

[[Page H10839]]

  These are the education platform proposals the Republican party would 
like us to forget. The Democrats will continue to fight for our 
children in public schools.

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