Political Quotes

“These dollars are the dollars for the interest subsidy. You have to spend money on the construction first in order to benefit from the dollars, the $5 billion, because the $5 billion is not, they are not construction dollars per se. They are the interest, 50 percent of the interest of construction dollars. That is why we have come up with the figure of about $20 billion over a course of 4 years, $20 billion a year, actually. Let me add a couple other things just to shed some light on how serious this problem is across the Nation. I am about to read from the GAO report, page 16. They did an extensive report, and I think the gentlewoman, Senator Moseley-Braun, ought to be commended for requesting such information. About a third of all, about a third of the students in America, which is about 14 million, attend schools with one inadequate building. About 60 percent of the students in America, which is about 25 million, attend schools with at least one inadequate building feature. The same number, about 25 million, attend schools in buildings with at least one unsatisfactory environmental condition which means asbestos problems are still a real problem within our school systems. About 12 million students, 30 percent, attend schools with both problems, at least one inadequate building, one inadequate building feature and some problems with the environmental aspects. So it is a real problem that affects schools all across this Nation.”