John W. Olver: “in Greenfield, Massachusetts, a town of 20,000 people, the middle school was closed because walls were literally…”

“in Greenfield, Massachusetts, a town of 20,000 people, the middle school was closed because walls were literally crumbling, threatening the safety of students. Now the middle school students are crammed into the town's overcrowded high school which has leaking roofs. Mr. Speaker, 2 days ago, the majority passed a bill that assigned $2.5 billion over 5 years for school construction bonds to build and repair schools. In the very same bill they assigned $18 billion, seven times as much, in business tax cuts over the same 5 years. Those business tax cuts included increasing the business tax deduction for meals from 50 to 70 percent and repealing several taxes on producers and marketers of alcoholic beverages. Remember, the three-martini lunches? That is a very clear picture of wrong priorities. This is October 28. We are 4 weeks into the fiscal year, CR number eight, and our work is not done. This is the longest session in the history of the Nation.”