James M. Talent: “There are millions of children trapped in schools, in America's urban core, where they do not learn, where they are not…”

“There are millions of children trapped in schools, in America's urban core, where they do not learn, where they are not safe, and where their parents know with a terrible certainty that the schools are not going to change. Madam Speaker, I suggest that the only thing worse than being without opportunity yourself is to know that unless you can do something that you feel you cannot do, your children are not going to escape, your children are not going to have any hope or any opportunity. This bill, the HELP scholarships, offers a hand to these parents. It gives their kids a chance, a modest chance, but a chance at a decent education and a good school. If ever a bill aided the powerless, it is this bill. But, Madam Speaker, if ever a bill offended the powerful, it is also this bill, because there is in this country an establishment, and I speak here without malice, but an establishment that controls millions of dollars, whose power and prestige and position depend on defending the status quo and public education in these poor neighborhoods. That establishment, Madam Speaker, is not fighting this bill because they are afraid it will fail. They are fighting it because they believe it will succeed.”