Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I think, again, the program that Mr. Estes has there in Wichita is a good role model. It is an indication, again, that we are sort of going back to the future. In the past, most of our education institutions paid attention to where the jobs were in this country and educated people to be prepared for the jobs. There are people who sometimes can be critical of us on the committee for saying that we spend too much time emphasizing people getting a job and perhaps not enough emphasizing a liberal education. Well, I am a huge fan of liberal education. My undergraduate degree is in English, but thank goodness I learned to type in high school because that typing skill is what helped me get through college as I worked my way through. All of us need skills. English majors of today need skills: computer skills, graphic skills. We don't want to diminish the role of liberal education. We want to just make sure that students have a clear understanding of what their choices are going to be when they enter a postsecondary institution and what they might expect when they exit that institution. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg), another member of our committee who is very well versed in the issues related to workforce development and education, who has done yeoman's work on many issues related to the workforce and education.”