[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 20]
[House]
[Page 29181]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                SAY YES TO AGENDA FOR AMERICAN FAMILIES

  (Mr. ALLEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Speaker, in response to the previous speaker, I sat 
yesterday with the superintendent of schools in the city of Portland 
and members of the school committee in Portland, Maine; and they do not 
want block grants. They want class size reduction above all else.
  Mr. Speaker, this session is winding down and the Republican Congress 
has a sorry record. We have not done very much this session, and much 
of what we have done has been done wrong.
  Many Democrats worked hard to pass campaign finance reform with the 
help of some Republicans here, but the leadership has killed it. 
Democrats tried to make our schools safer by passing modest gun safety 
laws, but Republicans said no. Democrats have worked to make health 
care safer for patients by passing a patients' bill of rights, but 
Republicans said no.
  Democrats in this administration tried to make the world safer by 
ratifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Republicans said no. 
Democrats have been working hard to get prescription drug legislation 
passed, but Republicans in the Committee on Ways and Means the other 
day said no.
  Next year let us say yes to an agenda for American families. Let us 
say yes and get this agenda enacted.




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