[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 38 (Thursday, March 8, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E356]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        INVESTING IN OUR FUTURE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. PETER A. DeFAZIO

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 8, 2012

  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I am submitting a letter from Colin Taylor 
Mays, a 12-year-old school kid in Oregon. He is very worried about the 
future of his education. The drive by some to make deep cuts in our 
education system is jeopardizing his education and the future 
competitiveness of our Nation.
  While it is critical that we must not further burden our children and 
grandchildren with a mountain of debt, we also must make investments in 
their future. With limited resources we must make smart investments 
that put people back to work by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure 
system. While we focus on creating jobs now we cannot forget about our 
youth and what future will lie ahead for them. We must invest in 
education to make sure that our children will be prepared for the 
workforce of tomorrow. It is possible to balance our budget and provide 
for the most critical needs of our Nation. We must look both at raising 
revenues and reducing spending in areas where appropriate. If we do not 
make these choices now we will continue to let our children suffer in 
an education system that is falling apart at the seams. I hope that my 
colleagues will heed this message and work with me on making the right 
choices for our youth by investing in their education and giving them 
the same if not greater opportunities than we had growing up.

                         (By Colin Taylor Mays)

       I am age 12 and a boy scout of America. I'm writing this 
     letter as a view not a complaint. I haven't been learning 
     enough in school, because of all the budget cut days. It's 
     hard to keep track of what I'm learning. We need to put more 
     money towards schooling and education. I probably have only 
     12 full weeks of school and I have so many weeks that only 
     have 4 or 3 days in them. Unlike very few children I want to 
     learn and possibly get a very good job that I want. Please 
     consider this letter.

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