[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 29 (Wednesday, February 24, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H728]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           SPECIAL EDUCATION

  (Mr. SESSIONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to address 
the House for a minute today, and today I would like to speak not just 
as a Congressman from the Fifth District of Texas but really as a 
parent.
  My wife and I have a five-year-old Down syndrome little boy who is 
about to enter the school system in Dallas, Texas; and the discussion 
that my wife and I had was that we believe, as parents, that the 
Federal Government and our local school system should do a better job 
of funding the special education needs in not only our children but 
other special education children. And I hope that the American public 
is listening when they hear the Republican majority talking about the 
need for the Federal Government and the Congress to fully fund special 
needs and special education in school districts across this country.
  That is what the Federal money should be spent for, because we are 
the people that put the rules and regulations on these school 
districts, and we need to fund that which we have asked them to do.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope that the American public is listening, that the 
Republican majority does care about education, and we care about each 
and every one of our children.

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