Brandon Williams: “Mr. Chairman, along with the attention that I think we owe the gentleman in the well is also our attention to his…”

“Mr. Chairman, along with the attention that I think we owe the gentleman in the well is also our attention to his statements about the poverty of courage and boldness and grandness in America today. Let me extend that just one additional step. Not only were those who came before us in Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman's time and the citizens who served with them, not only did they have great courage, even in the face of debt, but they understood something that this particular Congress appears not to understand, and that is, investments in education will, in fact, in the near term, reduce the deficit. Mr. Chairman, a former Speaker of this House asked for a review of a cost-benefit analysis of the cost of the GI bill and the benefits returned to the Treasury. When the results came back, they were astonishing. The GI bill has now paid off the entire capital cost of World War II several times. Had we not spent that education money in the 1940's, the debt would be much higher than it is today. One of the reasons that debt continues to rise under Republican Presidential leadership is because they do not understand the necessity of investment. Businesspeople understand it. Certainly the Japanese have understood it. America not only lacks, it seems to me, in its leadership the power of courage today, but we misunderstand the necessity of investments, such as continued and increased national investments in education.”