[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 25447]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



     LET CONGRESS STAND UP FOR PARENTS AND TEACHERS AT LOCAL LEVEL

  (Mr. HOEKSTRA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Speaker, we are in Washington today talking about 
some very important issues. Over the last 3 years, my subcommittee has 
had the opportunity to travel around the country and take a look at 
education to see what is working in America and what is not working in 
America.
  It is exciting to go down to the State and local level and see what 
parents, teachers, and local administrators are doing to bring about 
excellence in education. We need to reinforce those efforts and let 
people at the local level continue to innovate and move forward.
  We contrast that with what is going on here in Washington. We have a 
Department of Education that has failed its audit for the last 2 years, 
has numerous cases of waste, fraud, and abuse. And now the President 
wants to put additional programs under the jurisdiction of the 
Department of Education so that there are more Washington programs and 
bureaucrats telling our local parents and administrators what to do in 
education.
  This is a discussion and a debate about who controls our local 
schools. Let us stand up for parents and teachers at the local level.

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