John Shadegg

Taking this one step further, they accuse us, those who support nationalized testing and support really federalizing this whole issue say that we are anti-education because we support empowering teachers. They say we are anti-education…

That test will drive the education agenda in America. The handful of textbook publishers in this country who write our students textbooks will write that national test. Can you imagine the amalgamation of power in this small little…

I want to conclude by saying that national testing is one of those ideas where the proponents believe that Washington knows best and I suggest they are wrong. Washington does not know best how to educate your children in your school or my…

It may be well-intended, but it has the potential to be a disaster. If we write one test in Washington and it is bad, we will not be able to change it for decades to come. In a global economy, we will perhaps be handicapped.

It is a basic character of human nature to take possession of your own ideas. If you get involved in your own school and in your own children's education and you start working on making their education better, you are going to work at it…

It seems to me, first of all, the most important premise is to establish the fact that for those of us who oppose national testing, our opponents on the other side, that is the President and Secretary Riley and the educational experts and…

Mere coincidence. We are leaping to conclusions. ``These were clearly not fund-raisers.'' They will call them fund-raisers in their database, but that was a goof.

I care very much about their education. And as I said, I resent it when the other side says Republicans do not care about education or Republicans do not care about public education. I care deeply about public education. And as I said, I…

They would be revealing this information, answering these questions about themselves to be handed over to the school and for the school to use for whatever purpose they chose?

I just want to clarify, you are going to read to us from a survey given to students at a public school, not a religious or private or sectarian school, and administered by the school asking these questions of public school students; is…

I have back home in Arizona right now a 13-year-old daughter who is a freshman at Thunderbird High School in the Phoenix area, excuse me, a sophomore, and struggling to get through her education this year, and to try to get into the best…

This is the whole question about who is going to write the test, who is going to decide what our children learn. Like the gentleman from Wisconsin, I trust the parents and the teachers and the administrators and, for that matter, the…

It would keep the power in the hands of the President to create a monument of over 50,000 acres?

I wanted to take a moment, both of my colleagues are on the Committee on Education, to raise a separate issue that was raised at the end of the last hour... I have a 15-year-old and an 11-year-old at home. Nothing is more important to me…

Leak it as soon as you know it, so that before the hearing you can call it old news. That one we watched play out last week, where it was very important in the Committee on House Oversight that we make all depositions instantaneously…

Lesson No. 7, ``Never put it in writing.'' This one Al Gore should have learned. Obviously, he does not have friends. Lesson No. 8, ``Friends don't let friends call from work.'' And one that touched on the point the gentleman went into at…

We did discover a rather tongue-in-cheek memo from the White House, actually probably not crafted in the White House because I doubt they would let this memo out, but it says ``Clinton White House Lessons Learned in the Campaign of 1996.''…

We are trying to help out the economy. Helps the trade deficit and the labor movement. Lesson No. 6, ``Sprint has the best rate for international calls.''

No doubt shortly after the statute of limitations. Just, again, reclaiming the time the gentleman has yielded to me graciously, Al Gore, in his perusal of the statutes, could not find a controlling legal authority. My staff found yet…

Good point. So coffee at Starbucks is $1.27, coffee at the White House is $50,000.

There was one last one. The gentleman was just talking about the use of the Buddhist temple and the innocence of the people there. We found one more controlling authority that our friend Mr. Gore might want to take a look at. It was 18…

I doubt if that is Hillary Rodham Clinton. I am certain it is just someone else who happens to have similar initials.

We are trying to bring some light to this discussion and maybe some humor here, maybe we should do a national call-in, where we put up a 1-800 number and ask the American people how many people think BC in that note refers to Bill Cosby or…

Boston College. There could be that other remote possibility, that when it says on a staff note written in the White House, written by David Strauss, ``BC made 15 to 20 calls and raised $500,000,'' there is at least a slim chance, I would…

We could do that and let the American people call in and tell us what they really think. To continue the theme of mentioning a few controlling authorities that the Vice President did not happen to notice.