Frank Pallone

I think that this is a tradition that should not change because it is based on protections that were put into place, in effect, in reaction to the McCarthy era of the House Un-American Activities Committee, specifically the Hollywood 10…

I was proud to join with the majority of Members of the House in opposing this proposal. I rise to express my appreciation for the vote today in this body, which represents a victory for fairness and justice. The result here in this…

I think this is what we have to do, exactly what the gentleman has done, which is to show how in various districts around the country efforts have been made to improve the public schools, whether it is basic skills or some of the other…

The point is, we like to provide more alternatives, more choices, as the gentleman stated, but within the context of public education. We do not want the dollars taken away from public education. If we want to use the money to start some…

The other thing, too, when we talk about innovative programs like that where we get schools together on a county level or whatever to do something innovative, it is often difficult to get the local board of education to contribute dollars…

I was listening to what the gentleman from Texas said, in particular with regard to the effects of overcrowded classrooms or decaying schools. There is no question that it affects the quality of education provided to students. It is much…

I appreciate that. If I could just say one last thing, that is that the reason I feel so strongly about this is not only because I think it is important to have better environmental standards in the other countries, but also because if we…

If we look at the proposed legislation, it says it will ensure that trade and environmental protection are mutually supportive, and it in fact even serves to limit consideration of the environment to foreign government policies and…

What I think that the administration is telling us now is that they are willing to put negotiating objectives in the fast track legislation that would include specific references to the environment. But I do not believe that that is going…

I just wanted to say it is interesting what you said about President Clinton, because I think he has done more to basically be an advocate for prioritizing education on the Federal level than really anybody else. I watch him, and I have…

I just wanted to very briefly, if I could, follow up and talk about the environmental aspect, because it is something that concerns me a great deal. What I find so strange is that the advocates of this new fast track authority, and I guess…

The gentlewoman is just talking about equal opportunity, and that is what it is all about. We want any kid regardless of where he or she is to be able to have the equal opportunity. They will not be able to unless we encourage some kind of…

If I could just add, because I know that we do not have a lot of time left, our whole purpose really in coming to the floor and starting this education initiative again after the budget is to try to get our colleagues on the Republican…

I had some interesting statistics about school conditions by State... in my home State of New Jersey, the share of schools with at least one building in need... is 19.1 percent. In Connecticut, it is 30 percent. In New York, it is 32.8…

Our main purpose, of course, is to continue to point out that as Democrats we want to make education a top priority and we think we have done a lot as you mentioned with the Balanced Budget Act, but a lot more needs to be done.

I think our whole purpose is to use those scarce resources on the Federal level as wisely as possible. This idea of having or raising education standards around the country really is a way of using very little resources to achieve a great…

The bottom line is, if we were to pass this amendment today, which I know we will not, but if we were, we would encourage those terrorists to continue their activities against innocent people in India.

I just wanted to point out when we talk about the caste system, that the caste system is illegal under the Indian Constitution. Twenty-five percent of the members of India's Parliament are so-called untouchables. The President of India…

Students all over the country are going back to school this week. During the budget debate this summer, Democrats in Congress pushed an education agenda over the opposition of Republicans that provided significant help to college students…

Again, as the gentleman knows, we do not know what is in the final agreement, but my understanding is the President insisted on those provisions and that they are in there.

No, I cannot say that, but I think what the gentleman is seeing here is not only the HOPE Scholarship but also this 20 percent credit for tuition and fees, and then they will be able to deduct the interest on a student loan.

If I could just say, I am really pleased that the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Stupak] pointed out the capital gains difference, because I think the Republicans would like the public to believe that the Democrats are not reducing capital…

I believe most Americans now realize that the Republican tax cut strongly favor the rich... two-thirds of the Republican tax cuts in the House bill go to households with incomes of more than $100,000... it is a disgrace that those…

I think we have made the point quite clearly tonight that Democrats are not talking class warfare. What we are saying is with the limited amount of resources in the tax cuts that are available under this balanced budget plan, it certainly…

I wanted to say quickly to the gentleman, and I think we all realize that we are not in the business of redistributing wealth, the bottom line is the economy is really good. Wealthy people, wealthy corporations are benefiting from it. You…