[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 34 (Thursday, March 4, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H961]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     PROVIDING 21ST CENTURY LEARNING INSTITUTIONS FOR OUR CHILDREN

  (Mr. UDALL of New Mexico asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about 
school modernization. There is absolutely no doubt that our schools are 
in a state of despair. I have traveled New Mexico and talked to 
students and teachers in the schools and seen the problems firsthand, 
from buildings being shut down because of health and safety violations, 
temporary classrooms put on the campus for 1 year and used for 10 
years, and the list could go on and on.
  Mr. Speaker, one in three New Mexico schools need repair and need to 
be refurbished. The cost is staggering: $2 billion. No one entity can 
do it.
  So what we need, Mr. Speaker, is a partnership of the States, local 
school boards, the Federal Government, to make sure that we build 21st 
century learning institutions for our children.

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