Charles Rangel: “let me first congratulate all of the Members for taking out this special time to talk about the need for education. I…”

“let me first congratulate all of the Members for taking out this special time to talk about the need for education. I was in my office, and just to listen to what the gentleman was saying, we would think this was a developing country where the poor were just begging for education and opportunity and access to job training. We never would think that this was the world leader in trade, or one on which all of the industrialized countries are depending. We would never think that we were the farthest out there in technology. We would think that what we are talking about would be a part of our national security, a part of what was necessary for the health of our great Nation to continue to provide the international leadership that we do, and improve the quality of life for our citizens. Yet I was thinking, if we were talking about increasing the Federal penalties for any crime, or the death penalty, or building more prisons, we would not have to be here late at night, because we would know that these things somehow our Republican friends believe is part of government, that it is a role that we should play, even though most crimes are delegated to the States. Yet, we find that almost every State type of crime is being federalized, until our Federal prisons are bursting at the seams.”