[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 163 (Wednesday, November 17, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H12113]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




PARENTS AND TEACHERS, NOT WASHINGTON BUREAUCRATS, KNOW WHAT IS BEST FOR 
                              OUR CHILDREN

  (Mr. CHABOT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, in 1992, then Governor Bill Clinton, in his 
campaign treatise, putting people first, said that we need to, and I 
quote, ``grant expanded decision-making powers at the school level, 
empowering principals, teachers and parents with increased flexibility 
in educating our children.'' That was back in 1992.
  In 1999, President Clinton has drastically changed his tune. When 
asked just last week about State governors wanting more freedom from 
Washington education bureaucrats, he expressed irritation. I will again 
quote: ``because it is not their money,'' he said. If they don't want 
the money, they don't have to take it.
  With that response, President Clinton summed up the utter arrogance 
of Washington's liberal elite who really do believe that big government 
knows what is best for the hard-working Americans who earn those tax 
dollars.
  Mr. Speaker, it is their money. Let us send it back to those who 
earned it and know best how to spend it.

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