[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6777]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                               EDUCATION

  (Ms. WOOLSEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, education must be our Nation's number one 
priority. Our children are 25 percent of the population, but they are 
100 percent of our future. If we act now to strengthen our education 
system, our children and our country will be prepared for the economic 
and growth challenges of the future.
  The Democrats' Safe and Successful Schools Act of 2000 would give 
teachers, parents, and students the tools they need for success.
  As Democratic legislation proposes, investing in modernizing schools; 
hiring new, qualified teachers; and providing safe after-school 
programs for children will, indeed, take us into the new millennium and 
truly help our children and their future.
  Let us not play politics with our children's future. Let us work 
together to support the Safe Schools Act and show our children that 
they are our number one priority.
  The Republicans have proposed what they would call reforms, but, Mr. 
Speaker, closing troubled schools, doling out vouchers is not the 
answer. Investing in our education system is.

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