[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 34 (Thursday, March 4, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H962]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION AND MODERNIZATION

  (Mr. WYNN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WYNN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the Democratic 
proposal on education and specifically the modernization of our 
schools.
  Improving education in America requires all levels of government to 
pull their load. Today, local and State school systems are working very 
hard to improve education, but there is a Federal role. We ought to be 
providing assistance to local school districts who are trying to 
modernize their schools.
  This problem takes on many faces. Perhaps the most obvious one is the 
face of temporary buildings in front of school systems. We have lots of 
temporary buildings that were supposed to be there for 1 year. They are 
now there for 10 and 15 years, and they are proliferating. They are 
growing these little pods. It is almost like Monopoly to see these 
little toy schoolrooms being built.
  We need to address that problem.
  We have systems that have major ventilation problems and major 
heating system problems and major air conditioning problems and leaking 
roofs, and we need to address that problem as well. And we have school 
systems that lack modern technology. Over half the schools in this 
country are not wired to assume the technology that exists today.
  We need to modernize our schools. We need the Democratic plan.

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