[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 117 (Wednesday, September 27, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H8206]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




UNITED STATES RANKS NEAR BOTTOM IN EDUCATION COMPARED TO INDUSTRIALIZED 
                       COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD

  (Mr. SCHAFFER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Speaker, I have an obscenity to share with the 
Members of the House. For the 8 years that the Clinton-Gore 
administration has possessed the White House, they have squandered 
their opportunity to fix education in America.
  The Third International Math and Science Study comparison compared 21 
industrialized countries around the world in math and science. Let me 
read the list of countries that outperform the United States: 
Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, France, New 
Zealand, Australia, Canada, Austria, Slovenia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, 
Russia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic.
  After the United States comes two countries: Cyprus and South Africa.
  Yes, Mr. Speaker, we rank near the bottom when compared to industrial 
countries around the world in education.
  Republicans have a different message. Stop squandering opportunity in 
the White House. Get dollars to the classroom. Get money to the 
teachers, the administrators, the school board members who know the 
names of our children. Stop wasting billions on a huge bureaucracy here 
in Washington, D.C. that cannot teach.

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