Gus Bilirakis: “I rise today to touch upon the importance of having access to education. Education not only plays a vital role in the…”

“I rise today to touch upon the importance of having access to education. Education not only plays a vital role in the development of an individual, but also of a nation. Benjamin Disraeli noted in a speech to the House of Commons in 1874, that ``upon the education of the people of this country the fate of this country depends.'' While we in the United States may sometimes complain about the skyrocketing costs of college tuition or the need for more classrooms, what we often take for granted is the fact that everyone has access to education. This is not always the case in other countries. For example, in countries such as Albania and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, ethnic minorities are often denied access to education. Although international law and treaties signed by Albania guarantee ethnic Greeks a right to education in their native tongue, they are still denied equal access. Indeed, as Mrs. Porter, wife of Congressman John Porter of Illinois, pointed out to me in a letter dated December 14, 1995: ``The oppression on the Greek minority in Northern Epirus is palpable. It is evident in the lack of Greek schools in towns and villages with predominately Greek populations and the denial by the government that such need exists.''”