Political Quotes

“I am pleased to join Senator Dorgan to speak once again about rising crime on school grounds throughout this country. Senator Dorgan and I offered the ``zero tolerance'' amendment during the Goals 2000 discussion. The amendment is simple: if a student carries a gun to school--which has increasingly become a common occurrence--he or she will be expelled. The House-Senate conference committee that is meeting on the education bill has initially approved the amendment and it must be in the final bill that will be ratified by both houses. Let me explain why this amendment is so important. In fact, I believe removing guns from schools is absolutely essential to achieving the national education goals embodied in Goals 2000. Jennifer Chien, a 16-year-old student at University High School in Irvine, recently wrote an op-ed piece for the Los Angeles Times that I think summarizes the fear so prevalent on school campuses: Violence has even spread to our schools. Last year, there were thousands of incidents in the United States of students taking weapons to school. Kids. Not young adults or even adolescents, but children. School children should not have in their hands the means for slaying their classmates over simple disputes. In the past, a fistfight would have ended the quarrel; now a gun is the solution. Imagine what would happen if students shot each other every time there was a disagreement. No one would be left to attend class. Jennifer is absolutely correct.…”