[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 12897]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



            INTRODUCTION OF THE CLASSROOM MODERNIZATION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. HOWARD P. ``BUCK'' McKEON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 27, 2000

  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Speaker, today, I join with my other colleagues on 
the Education and the Workforce Committee--Committee Chairman Bill 
Goodling, Early Childhood Subcommittee Chairman Mike Castle, and Johnny 
Isakson--to introduce the Classroom Modernization Act.
  I support this legislation because it is a reasonable and, more 
importantly, a responsible solution to our nation's school improvement 
and construction needs from a federal level. The building of new 
schools or the major renovations of existing ones has always been left 
to the states and local school districts. And it should continue to be 
that way.
  Instead, the Classroom Modernization Act is responsible to the needs 
of the American taxpayer, our school boards, and our children.
  It is responsible to the American taxpayer because it provides for a 
limited program aimed at fulfilling the most important needs of 
America's schools. We do not open the federal coffers to a broad, new--
and potentially very costly--construction plan.
  It is responsible to our school boards because it doesn't make 
promises the federal government cannot keep. Instead of promising them 
new schools paid for with federal dollars, we are promising them 
assistance to meet mandates and standards imposed on them by the 
federal government.
  Finally, it is responsible to our children because through this 
legislation, we will give special needs students access to school 
buildings; we will make schools safer; and we will provide them with 
the resources they need to be ready to join the New Economy of the 2st 
Century.
  To conclude, I want to thank Chairman Goodling, Chairman Castle, Mr. 
Isakson, and the other Members who have worked to put this legislation 
together. It was truly a collaborative process.
  I want to urge all my colleagues to support this legislation. Thank 
you.

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