[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[July 23, 1992]
[Pages 1164-1166]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on Signing the Higher Education Amendments of 1992 in Annandale, 
Virginia

July 23, 1992
    Please be seated, and thank you very, very much. Dr. Ernst, thank 
you, sir, for that very nice explanation and that wonderful 
introduction. Let me say how pleased I am to be here on this campus, be 
here at this marvelous community college about which I've heard so many 
good things.
    I'm delighted to be with Lamar Alexander. I know the Members of 
Congress here have met him and worked with him, but some of the students 
here and some of the faculty may not have. In my view, nonpartisan view, 
a purely objective view, Lamar Alexander is really doing a superb job 
for the Nation's education, and I'm delighted he's here.
    I want to salute the Members of Congress that came all the way over. 
Lamar was telling me and our own people in the White House have told me 
that this was truly a bipartisan effort. The leaders out here today 
reflect that, and they have stood by education for a long, long time. So 
I welcome them, salute them, particularly the members of the Senate 
Labor and Human Resources Committee, the House Committee, the House 
Education and Labor Committee.
    I also want to salute the members of the NOVA community. It's a 
pleasure, as I say, to be here in Virginia, the cradle of American 
education, and then to sign into law this higher education bill, the 
Higher Education Amendments of 1992, and help thereby move our schools 
into the 21st century.
    After this is over, we're going to pass these out to everybody, and 
then tonight we will have a quiz--[laughter]--on the ingredients 
therein. But I told Dr. Ernst that I'm impressed with NOVA's mission, 
curriculum, and most especially your choice of last year's commencement 
speaker--[laughter]--a silver-haired philosopher named Barbara Bush, who 
still feels honored and delighted.
    But there are a couple of things I don't like to do. You know one, 
eating broccoli.

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But the other is speaking where Barbara has already spoken. It's sort of 
like being asked to play guitar after Garth Brooks. [Laughter] So I want 
to break my rule one time because this occasion is important and the 
hospitality that she received was so memorable.
    We do gather at a momentous time in our country's history. Over the 
past 4 years, we've seen changes of almost Biblical proportions in the 
world. I think we rejoice that the cold war is over. What does that mean 
for you and your families? Well, I think when children go to bed at 
night, they'll be safer from the specter of nuclear war and safer than 
they were a decade ago, safer than they were a year ago, and safer, I 
think, than just a month or so ago when we had that rather historic 
agreement with Boris Yeltsin. So I think that's good news. It's good 
news for the young people that are with us today. It's good news for our 
country. I happen to feel it's good news for the whole world.
    But this new world does pose enormous challenges; big opportunities, 
though. From Poland to Paraguay, other nations are trying to copy our 
system of free enterprise. And here's the question: How do we win when 
more of the world's nations are playing our game? The opportunity is 
huge. The economists say when we win, we will share in a maximized 
proportion of ever-increasing global prosperity. I had that translated 
into English, and that means good, steady jobs for you and your 
families. So then you've got to ask, how do you win those jobs? I 
believe we cannot renew America without renewing our schools.
    Consider a couple of facts. In 1980, a man with a college education 
made on an average $11,000 more per year than a man with only a high 
school education. By 1990, that gap had increased to more than $16,000, 
and the exact same pattern happened with women's income. Those facts 
shout a simple truth: Education makes the difference. Every American 
deserves the chance to get on the ladder of opportunity and climb up.
    I want to tell you about a woman I admire. She's not someone you'll 
read about in the paper, won't see her on television. She is someone who 
might be your neighbor or the mother of one of your kids' friends. She 
has two disabled children and a life that's had many good breaks and 
then a couple of bad ones. But she also has a dream that she won't let 
go: She wants to be a nurse. Now she will get the financial help that 
she needs to fulfill that dream. Some day this courageous lady's 
children will sit in the audience and watch Mom receive her nursing 
degree. This woman who's done so much for so many will now be able to 
serve even more people. The president of Phi Theta Kappa, Frances 
McIntire. When I heard her story and saw her determination, I was mighty 
proud, proud of Frances, proud that we're giving thousands of men and 
women like her a better chance to get the education they desire and 
deserve.
    This act that I'm signing today gives a hand up to lower income 
students who need help the most. But it also reaches out into the 
middle-income families, the ones who skipped a vacation and drove the 
old clunker so that their kids could go to college. Too often, the 
funding cracks have been so big that these solid, decent families have 
slipped on through, and their children's dreams have been in danger of 
slipping away. Well, no longer. It's a matter of fairness. It's a matter 
of our future.
    This act also reflects an important new phenomenon. We used to think 
of education like measles vaccines, like first dates, or like learning 
to drive, something we only did when we were young. Today, education 
never ends. Although our temples may be graying and our jogging routes a 
little shorter, we always have to learn. And this act recognizes that 
simple fact, just as this great community college has recognized that 
fact, making Federal aid available for part-time students who are taking 
a class or two toward their degree while still holding down a job.
    How much richer our Nation's future will be. Each year, millions of 
families will be able to get more Federal assistance and then pass on to 
their kids the legacy of education. But this higher education act does 
more than open up Federal funding to middle-income and to part-time 
students. It also sets tough standards to rid Federal aid programs of 
fraud and abuse both by sham

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schools and by students who default on their loans. In addition, some 
student aid will now be contingent on academic performance. The act 
includes parts of what we call proudly our America 2000 program, 
including academies for teachers and school leaders and something called 
alternative certification.
    Now, that's a program near and dear to my heart, so let me try to 
explain it. When I lived out in Odessa, Texas, in 1948, I'd just 
graduated from college, and I went out there and had a little extra time 
on my hands. I tried to volunteer to teach night courses. My college 
economics degree was not good enough because I didn't have the required 
courses, mandatory courses then, in education, and that bothered me. 
Then I learned that without a teaching degree, even Albert Einstein 
couldn't teach high school science. Now, I might understand keeping me 
out of there. I might get embarrassed around the computer or something. 
But Albert Einstein? Come on.
    In my first months in office, I proposed legislation to allow the 
``Einsteins'' to teach without traditional certification. After 3 years 
and 3 tries, now the Congress has agreed to this. This helps, in my 
view, open up huge talent pools to bring into our classrooms. Now we can 
find a way, for example, to encourage more of our men and women who are 
leaving the armed services to put their skills to work leading future 
generations in the classroom.
    By the way, I'm pleased to note that this past spring I did receive 
my alternative teaching certificate from the State of Texas. The woman 
who sent me my certificate, Delia Stafford, is with us today. She's a 
champion of change, willing to try something different because our 
children deserve nothing less. I think it's good to give her a round of 
applause for her innovative approach.
    Our system of higher education is indeed the best in the entire 
world because it's rooted in the American ideals that make it excellent, 
accessible, and accountable. America 2000 is the revolution that 
believes those ideals must be transferred to our elementary and 
secondary schools. Just yesterday Senator Danforth and Senator Gradison 
introduced my State and local ``GI bill'' for children which will 
transform precollege education by giving middle- and low-income families 
$1,000 scholarships to send their kids to their choice of schools. I 
don't know about you, but that gives me 1,000 reasons to cheer. Higher 
education thrives on competition, thrives on choice. We must bring those 
incentives to elementary and secondary schools. It's time we let 
parents, not the Government, choose their kids' schools, public, 
private, or religious.
    I mentioned earlier how I believe that education is now a lifelong 
endeavor. So I feel it is only appropriate to conclude with a quote I 
remember from my own school days, a quote from Longfellow, something 
about great heights not being achieved by ``sudden flight'' but by 
``toiling upward in the night.'' Longfellow's advice could apply to the 
task of renewing our schools. It won't be done with headlines; it won't 
be done with slogans, or even money alone. What it takes is innovation, 
courage, a willingness in every community to roll up our sleeves and 
reform this vital American institution.
    We are toiling upward in the night, and today we climb a little bit 
higher. And when we've reached our plateau, we will look out upon a new 
generation of American schools and a stronger foundation for our Nation.
    So now, on behalf of Frances McIntire and the legions of students at 
NOVA and across the country who will benefit, it is with great pride and 
great gratitude to the Congress, particularly the Members here today, 
that I sign into law the Higher Education Amendments of 1992. As I sign 
I would like to ask Secretary Alexander, Dr. Ernst, and Delia Stafford 
to come forward, and Frances, you too. Then I'd love to invite the 
Members of Congress to come up and say hello and turn around to 
demonstrate at least the nonpartisan or the bipartisan spirit of this 
occasion.
    Again, my thanks to you ladies and gentlemen for being with us 
today.

                    Note: The President spoke at 1:48 p.m. at Northern 
                        Virginia Community College. In his remarks, he 
                        referred to Richard J. Ernst, president of the 
                        college; Senator John C. Danforth of Missouri; 
                        and Representative Willis D. Gradison, Jr., of 
                        Ohio.