Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 105 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION
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E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 105 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 143 WASHINGTON, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1997 No. 150 House of Representatives The House met at 9 a.m. and was Mr. BROWN of Ohio led the Pledge of ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER called to order by the Speaker pro tem- Allegiance as follows: PRO TEMPORE pore [Mr. SHIMKUS]. I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the The SPEAKER pro tempore. The f United States of America, and to the Repub- Chair will now entertain five 1-minutes DESIGNATION OF THE SPEAKER lic for which it stands, one nation under God, from each side. indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. PRO TEMPORE f The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- f OPPOSE PRESIDENT'S PLAN ON fore the House the following commu- NATIONAL TESTING nication from the Speaker: MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given WASHINGTON, DC, October 31, 1997. A message from the Senate by Mr. permission to address the House for 1 I hereby designate the Honorable JOHN Lundregan, one of its clerks, an- minute and to revise and extend his re- SHIMKUS to act as Speaker pro tempore on nounced that the Senate had passed marks.) this day. without amendment a concurrent reso- Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, today is NEWT GINGRICH, Halloween, so let me begin with the Speaker of the House of Representatives. lution of the House of the following title: first liberal horror story of the day. f Our education liberals have come up PRAYER H. Con. Res. 167. Concurrent resolution to with another expensive solution for our correct a technical error in the enrollment of failing public school system. That is The Chaplain, Reverend James David H.R. 2160. right. They want to use more of your Ford, D.D., offered the following pray- taxpayer dollars to design and imple- er: The message also announced that the ment a national testing plan. Your spirit, O God, that is new every Senate agrees to the report of the com- While all parents, including all of us, morning and with us until our last day, mittee of conference on the disagreeing want to monitor the progress of our comes to us as a gentle wind blowing votes of the two Houses on the amend- children in school, we do not want away all our faults and shortcomings ment of the Senate to the bill (H.R. Washington bureaucrats creating more and giving us a new beginning and new 2160) ``An Act making appropriations redtape through a national testing hope. In spite of all the sadness and for Agriculture, Rural Development, plan. Let us tackle our national edu- disappointments that enter our lives, Food and Drug Administration, and cation problems by sending the re- Your grace is sufficient for our needs Related Agencies programs for the fis- sources and dollars where they will do and Your love is a balm unto our souls. cal year ending September 30, 1998, and some good, to the local school dis- May Your blessing, gracious God, that for other purposes.'' tricts, down into classrooms, where refreshes and makes us whole, be with The message also announced that the teachers and parents can apply those us now and evermore, we pray. Amen. Senate had passed with amendments in resources to teaching children, not lin- f which the concurrence of the House is requested, a bill of the House of the fol- ing the pockets of Washington bureau- THE JOURNAL lowing title: crats. It is easy as all that. The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. I urge my colleagues to oppose the H.R. 672. An act to make technical amend- President's plan on national testing. SHIMKUS). The Chair has examined the ments to certain provisions of title 17, Unit- This body should concentrate on in- Journal of the last day's proceedings ed States Code. and announces to the House his ap- creasing parental choice and involve- proval thereof. The message also announced that the ment, not national testing. Pursuant to clause 1, rule I, the Jour- Senate had passed bills of the following f nal stands approved. titles, in which the concurrence of the FEDERAL INVESTIGATION INTO f House is requested: UNION PACIFIC PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE S. 1024. An act to make chapter 12 of title 11 of the United States Code permanent, and (Mr. SKELTON asked and was given The SPEAKER pro tempore. Will the for other purposes; and permission to address the House for 1 gentleman from Ohio [Mr. BROWN] S. 1149. An act to amend title 11, United minute.) come forward and lead the House in the States Code, to provide for increased edu- Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, the lead Pledge of Allegiance. cation funding, and for other purposes. story on the radio last evening was the b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H9803 H9804 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð HOUSE October 31, 1997 fact that there will be a Federal inves- trust the Federal Government. Poll- So let us do our job. Let us do the job tigation into the Union Pacific because sters keep trying to figure it out. I be- we were hired to do by the American of its merger and the fact that the em- lieve it is not all that complicated. people. Let us debate this issue. Let us ployees of Union Pacific are under such In my opinion, the American people pass a tough, comprehensive campaign stress and fatigue because of the in growing numbers do not trust the finance reform bill. Mr. Speaker, we downsizing. Federal Government because many must not adjourn this Congress until Let me point out that, as a result of Americans believe that the Federal we have done our job. testimony and actually visiting with Government does not always tell the f young people in uniform of all services, truth. The pollsters can constipate all there are stretches and strains and fa- they want over this issue. This is no PARENTS NEED MORE CHOICE IN tigue. The veterans of America under- brain surgery. It is very simple. No PUBLIC SCHOOLS stand this. The military retirees of truth, no trust. Trust and truth are in- (Mr. ROGAN asked and was given America understand this. The parents separable. permission to address the House for 1 of the young people understand this. I yield back Waco, Ruby Ridge, Pan minute and to revise and extend his re- So let us not forget those young peo- Am 103, and Camelot. marks.) ple today who are in uniform defending f Mr. ROGAN. Mr. Speaker, the next America's interest regardless of wheth- ``PORKER OF THE WEEK'' AWARD time those opponents of parental er they be here in the continental Unit- choice in education on the other side (Mr. HEFLEY asked and was given ed States or ashore somewhere else, argue that the Federal Government permission to address the House for 1 the stresses and strains under which should be running our public schools minute.) instead of giving parents more local they exist. Let us give them a word of Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, those re- control, I hope that they will consider encouragement, a word of thanks. Be- designed $50 bills are hot off the Bu- these recently released facts. cause they are a national treasure. reau of Printing and Engraving presses. Last year, new rigorous exams were f But what are we going to do with the given to 130,000 elementary school chil- more than $217 million in printing er- WHAT A-PLUS ACCOUNTS ARE dren. The performance results were dis- rors? That is right, many bills were re- REALLY ABOUT mal. Only 39 percent of 8th graders and jected by the Federal Reserve because (Mr. GUTKNECHT asked and was 33 percent of 4th graders had any kind the fine concentric lines surrounding given permission to address the House of basic understanding in reading and the portrait of Ulysses S. Grant were for 1 minute.) writing. New reports also show that 75 broken. This may seem like a minor Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, it is flaw to some, but it is a major problem percent of American college students against the House rules to question the because the Treasury spent $15 million are struggling with high school-level motives of other Members. But in the on an international education cam- math. One textbook expert said, last several days, we heard our Demo- paign touting the lines as a special fea- ``There is no question that every time cratic colleagues saying that the rea- ture added to thwart counterfeiters. we adopt a textbook, the reading level son we want to pass A-Plus accounts is Most likely the only option for the of the book is lower than the last.'' to harm public education. Does any- Treasury Department is to destroy the Yesterday, the Washington Times did body really believe that? flawed notes and start over. This will an editorial that hit the nail directly Eighty-eight percent of America's cost the taxpayers at least $16.3 mil- on the head. They said that, ``Phonics schoolchildren attend public schools. I lion, $8.7 million for the misprinted is out, whole language is in, spelling went to public schools my entire life. bills, $360,000 to destroy them, and $7.2 primers and spelling bees are passe, in- Two of my children graduated from million to reprint them.