[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 16]
[House]
[Page 23336]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 23336]]

         EDUCATION IS KEY TO OPPORTUNITY, EQUALITY, AND SUCCESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I could not help but listen to


the Members who have preceded me in discussing what I think is a 
universal issue, and that is to help our children in this Nation learn.
  Education is the key to opportunity, the key to equality, the key to 
success. Unfortunately, we have failed in creating opportunities for 
excellence.
  It is difficult for a country as powerful as America and Members of 
the United States Congress to be able to come to the floor of the House 
and admit, in some part, failure. That is why it is so very important 
for us to emphasize what needs to be done and to also emphasize that 
all cannot be done at the local level.
  Education is national. It should be a national priority. And so, Mr. 
Speaker, I think it is vital that, before we leave this session, we 
focus on issues such as reducing class size so that our children can 
get individual tutoring and teaching and nurturing so that education is 
fun and education for them is a positive experience.
  To do that, we must admit that our schools in America are crumbling 
and local jurisdictions cannot build all of the schools that are 
needed. Every one of us have schools in our community that have 
portable buildings, limited heat, limited air conditioning. They were 
only supposed to be there on a temporary basis. Yet first-graders and 
kindergartners and second-graders are all in these portable buildings 
maybe high school students and middle school students. And for some, in 
inclement weather, those individuals have to leave those portables to 
go to the restroom facilities, gym facilities.
  What kind of life is that for our children?
  We need increased teacher salaries. We need to respect teachers for 
the learning and the knowledge that they bring to the classroom. And, 
yes, we need the training of more math and science teachers.
  I have seen the actual results of that. The ranking member on the 
Committee on Immigration Claims, we supported H-1B non-immigrant visas 
to help in our high-technology industry. But, Mr. Speaker, the real 
issue is are we preparing Americans for those jobs, are we training 
incumbent workers, are we training college students? There has to be a 
greater opportunity and there must be a greater access and opportunity 
for education.
  I visited with some of my elementary school students this past week 
from Henderson Elementary School, hard-working students. But yet, Mr. 
Speaker, they had maybe three computers to a classroom, maybe not that 
many. I asked the 10-year-old and 9-year-old how often they got to the 
computer, and they said maybe once or twice or three times a week. Even 
if there is slightly more than that, that is not enough to prepare a 
technologically educated society.
  Mr. Speaker, it is important that we do more for education.
  Let me just simply close on another and different note, but I think 
it is extremely important to clarify something very close to my heart 
as a member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, a cosponsor of the 
Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 1999 and 2000. There seems to be a lot of 
debate about this, Mr. Speaker. But let me clarify the record.
  Coming from Texas, all of the world's eyes were on Jasper, Texas, in 
1998 when the heinous act of James Byrd, Jr. was discovered, the 
dismemberment of a man because of his color. Out of that terrible 
tragedy, legislators such as Representatives Senfronia Thompson of 
Texas, Senator Rodney Ellis of Texas, Joe Deshotel, a cosponsor, and 
many others put forward the Hate Crimes Act of Texas in order to ensure 
that this terrible act would be an illegal act not only in Texas but to 
show the world what Texas was made of.
  That act was dealing with race, ethnicity, gender, disability, 
religion or sexual orientation. It was inclusive. It was 
constitutionally secure. It would pass constitutional muster, unlike 
the legislation of 1991, which was simply a Hate Crimes Reporting Act 
that I believe the Governor of the State of Texas was referring to in 
all of his debates.
  We do not have a real hate crimes legislation or bill in the State of 
Texas. And when the family of James Byrd, Jr. went to the Governor's 
office and begged for his support for that very strong legislative 
initiative, he did not give it. Plain and simple, the signals went out 
to the Senate that it was not a legislative initiative that the 
Governor's office was supporting.
  It passed the House, with Speaker Laney, the Democratic speaker in 
the House of Representatives in the State of the Texas. But in a 
Republican Senate in the State of Texas, it could not pass.
  The Governor of my State, Governor Bush, did not help it pass and did 
not support its passage. And now we do not have, in light of the 
heinous act, murderous act against James Byrd, Jr., not even as a 
tribute to him could we pass a real hate crimes bill in the State of 
Texas.
  I hope this Congress will take up the challenge and stop the opposing 
of a real hate crimes legislation that could be passed in this session 
and do what is right. We could not do what was right for Texas. Let us 
do what is right for all of America and make it a Federal law, and let 
us not stand in the way of acknowledging that that country abhors 
hateful acts because they are simply different. As the Voters' Rights 
Act was passed and the Civil Rights Act was passed, we can pass a real 
civil rights bill, the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, and tell America and 
the world that we stand not for hate but for inclusion and empowerment.

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