[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 144 (Thursday, October 21, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H10619]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   ON H.R. 2, TITLE I REAUTHORIZATION

  (Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, today this body will be continuing 
consideration of H.R. 2, the Student Results Act which reauthorizes 
ESEA, or Title I. Title I is a vital program for elementary and 
secondary schools in the territories as well as the States. My 
district, the Virgin Islands, relies heavily on the resources it 
provides to educate our children.
  We in this body have a responsibility to ensure that this important 
measure reaches all Americans, and this includes women, people of 
color, the poor and those for whom English is not their first language. 
The bill as it exists contains much of the resources and programs our 
schools need, but we must give the American people the best Title I we 
can. That means reauthorizing the Women's Education Equity Act, keeping 
the poverty threshold at 50 percent, including adequate provisions for 
bilingual education, and saying ``no'' to vouchers.
  Our future demands full support of our public school system as the 
best insurance for a well-educated citizenry. With the passage of the 
Mink-Woolsey-Sanchez-Morella amendment, we have begun to do that. Young 
girls and women across America are grateful to our colleagues for this 
amendment. Now let us pass the Payne amendment, reject the Armey 
amendment and help our bilingual students.

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