[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 138 (Saturday, October 28, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H11475]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            SHALLOW RHETORIC UNDERMINES CONGRESSIONAL ACTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ose). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today because I did 
not get over in time to speak on the motion to instruct conferees, but 
I think it is time for a reality check with the other side.
  We heard a lot of rhetoric, unfortunately, about the education debate 
on our plan versus the President's plan and how Republicans do not care 
about the condition of our schools. Well, Mr. Speaker, I am proud of 
the fact that I am one of the few who actually is a classroom teacher 
in this body. In fact, I spent 7 years teaching in the inner city 
schools in and around Philadelphia. In fact, I helped to run a chapter 
1 program for 3 of those years.
  I want to remind my friends on the other side that for the 7 years 
that I taught, I taught in a portable classroom; two trailers bolted 
together without adequate heat, without adequate air-conditioning, 32 
children in a self-contained environment, in a portable classroom. 
Guess who was in charge of the government when I taught? It was a 
Democrat President, a Democrat House and a Democrat Senate. Where was 
the concern for those of us who were teaching in portable classrooms in 
inner cities back then when my colleagues controlled the whole 
ballgame? Where were their efforts to deal with school modernization? 
Where were their efforts to increase funds for school construction? I 
was there on the front line teaching in that portable classroom with 32 
kids that were challenged in an environment that was very difficult.

  Now, I will remind my colleagues on the other side of one further 
fact. The first 2 years that President Clinton was in office, the 
Democrats controlled the House and they controlled the Senate. They 
could have passed any bill they wanted, and we could not stop it. They 
had all of the votes. We could not have stopped any issue that they 
wanted to address for the American people.
  I find it a little questionable that in the first 2 years of 
Clinton's administration, when the Democrats controlled the entire ball 
game, there was no bill for school construction. There was no rhetoric 
down here on the floor about the need to deal with kids. There was no 
concern about the people teaching in portable classrooms like I did for 
7 years. There was no concern about falling ceilings. What are they 
telling us? All that occurred within the last 5 years?
  The fact is, this is nothing more than political rhetoric. The first 
2 years that the Democrats controlled the House and the Senate and the 
White House when they could have done anything they wanted, they did 
not even propose a bill to deal with school construction. This Congress 
has. With a bipartisan piece of legislation that we are going to pass, 
and hopefully this President will sign, we will do what a responsible 
Congress could have done 7 years ago, and that is deal with the issue 
of the need for modernization of our schools.
  So I bring up this reality check, Mr. Speaker, because unlike most of 
my friends who are attorneys who never taught in the classroom, I 
taught in the classroom for 7 years. I know what it is like to teach in 
a portable classroom with 2 trailers bolted together, with kids who 
cannot go outside because when you open the door, the cold is right 
there. My point is I think a lot of what we heard today is nothing more 
than shallow rhetoric.

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