[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 82 (Monday, June 26, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1116]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2001

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. DENNIS MOORE

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 14, 2000

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill, (H.R. 4577) 
     making appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health 
     and Human Services, and Education, and related agencies for 
     the fiscal year ending September 30, 2001, and for other 
     purposes:

  Mr. MOORE. Mr. Chairman, I rise to express my grave concern with the 
bill before us today. This bill critically underfunds important 
national priorities that are too numerous to mention.
  Many Members of this House have expressed their concern about the 
Federal Government's chronic failure to meet its commitment to special-
needs kids. Yet, this bill provides just $6.6 billion in funding for 
special education, $514 million over last year's funding but far short 
of the $16 billion-plus we need to fulfill this longstanding commitment 
to our most vulnerable children.
  Mr. Chairman, I have a school in my district where exposed wires 
dangle from the ceiling, and rainwater seeps over those wires, but this 
bill provides no funds to repair collapsing schools. Never mind that 
more than 200 of my colleagues have heeded the call of their school 
districts, who are begging for assistance repairing schools.
  53.2 million kids--a national enrollment record--started school in 
1999 and 2.2 million teachers will be needed in the coming years to 
teach them what they need to know. The teacher shortage is an imminent 
national crisis, yet this bill includes no funds to continue the class 
size reduction initiative that is putting 100,000 new teachers in our 
schools.
  Mr. Chairman, we know that quality early childhood programs for low-
income children can increase the likelihood that children will be 
literate, employed, and educated, and less likely to be school 
dropouts, dependent on welfare, or arrested for criminal activity. This 
bill, however, cuts the President's request for Head Start by $600 
million, which denies 53,000 low-income children the opportunity to 
benefit from this comprehensive child development program.
  Tragically, our country has become desensitized to school violence, 
accustomed to reports of shootings in schools. School shootings are no 
longer front page news. Yet, this bill eliminates assistance for 
elementary school counselors that serve more than 100,000 children in 
60 high-need school districts that could intervene and identify 
troubled kids before they harm themselves, their classmates or their 
teachers.
  Earlier this week, I supported a bill to relieve the estate tax with 
great reservation. I have long been a supporter of responsible estate 
tax relief that maintains our national commitments--paying down the 
national debt, protecting Social Security and Medicare, and supporting 
important domestic priorities such as the ones I have listed here. The 
leadership of this House, however, gave us one vehicle for estate tax 
relief, and I supported it with the hope that the Senate and the 
conference committee will craft a fiscally responsible compromise.
  Today, however, I am faced with this bill that turns its back on our 
Nation's number one priority--our kids. The leadership of this House 
expects a veto of this irresponsible bill. I am voting against this 
bill today and I ask my colleagues to do the same. We then can return 
to the drawing board and craft a fiscally responsible bill that 
reflects our priorities as a nation.




                          ____________________