[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 65 (Thursday, May 6, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E887-E888]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          TRIBUTE TO TEACHERS

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. RON PAUL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 6, 1999

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate National Teacher 
Appreciation week by expressing my appreciation for the valuable work 
of America's teachers and to ask my colleagues to support two pieces of 
legislation I have introduced to get the government off the backs, and 
out of the pockets, of America's teachers. Yesterday I introduced 
legislation to prohibit the expenditure of federal funds for national 
teacher testing or certification. A national teacher test would force 
all teachers to be trained in accordance with federal standards, thus 
dramatically increasing the Department of Education's control over the 
teaching profession.
  I have also introduced the Teacher Tax Cut Act (HR 937) which 
provides every teacher in America with a $1,000 tax credit. The Teacher 
Tax Cut Act thus increases teachers' salaries without raising federal 
expenditures. It lets America's teachers know that the American people 
and the Congress respect their work. Finally, and perhaps most 
importantly, by raising teacher take-home pay, the Teacher Tax Cut Act 
encourages high-quality people to enter, and remain in, the teaching 
profession.
  Mr. Speaker, these two bills send a strong signal to America's 
teachers that we in Congress are determined to encourage good people to 
enter and remain in the teaching profession and that we want teachers 
to be treated

[[Page E888]]

as professionals, not as Education Department functionaries. I urge my 
colleagues to support my legislation to prohibit the use of federal 
funds for national teacher testing and to give America's teachers a 
$1,000 tax credit.

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