[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 146 (Wednesday, October 14, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H10840]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             TRUSTING LOCAL COMMUNITIES TO EDUCATE CHILDREN

  (Mr. FOSSELLA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FOSSELLA. Mr. Speaker, like all things in public life, in the 
covenant that exists between the people and their elected officials, 
the overriding issue is trust and credibility.
  Now, we have heard for the last few days an attempt by the other side 
to divert attention away from the fact that we were going to deliver 
much-needed tax relief for the American people, phasing out the 
marriage penalty tax, helping small business owners with health 
insurance deductibility, raising it to 100 percent, and, above all, 
helping farmers across our country.
  Now we hear that education is the issue. Of course it is the issue. 
We all want to see education improve. But every attempt we have to take 
the bureaucracy out of Washington and bring it back home to Staten 
Island, Brooklyn, across the country, we are opposed.
  We passed education savings accounts to give parents more flexibility 
to do what is right for their children, not the Washington bureaucrats. 
Threatened by the President, vetoed by the President.
  Opportunity scholarships for the poorest students in the Washington, 
D.C. school system passed this House and Senate, again giving power 
back to parents locally. Vetoed by the President.
  Let us end the rhetoric. We all want to improve education. The 
question is how do we do it. We say give it back to the people, back to 
the parents, back to the teachers.

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