Patsy T. Mink: “Mr. Chairman, I stand here in absolute dismay at this bill that we are being asked to vote on today, which decimates the…”

“Mr. Chairman, I stand here in absolute dismay at this bill that we are being asked to vote on today, which decimates the funding for education throughout the country. This debate is basically a debate of the disavowal of the majority of our national promise that we would care, defend, and protect our Nation's children. Under this camouflage of budget rhetoric, the majority party has appropriated an appropriations bill that cuts $3.9 billion from our education programs and dismantles a 30-year record of increasing support for our children. I feel betrayed because I always believed the discussions with respect to our national priority, always put our children on the top. In discussing our care and compassion for children in this country, we always pledged our full support to their education. Mr. Chairman, we all recognize that there are vast differences in our country, rural, urban America, rich and poor, but we have always said that the National Government has a responsibility to make sure that no matter what the circumstances of poverty or whatever the location is in geography, that the children would be protected and that the assurance of equal educational opportunity was a solemn pledge and contract that we made for our children. This appropriation bill denies that.”