Political Quotes

“Let me thank my colleague for yielding, and thank all my colleagues who are supporting this legislation today. Many of us remember the story of ``The Little Engine That Could.'' What happened was that the train full of toys wanted to get over the mountain to get to the kids on the other side. The big engine said: No, I cannot. The rusty old engine said: No, I cannot. But the little engine says: I'm not very big, but I think I can. I think I can. Well, from the beginning, the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program has been the little engine that could. We started this back in 2003 with the help of D.C.'s Mayor at the time, Anthony Williams, and D.C. councilman Kevin Chavous. For years the government was promising the Moon to D.C. families and spending the Moon, essentially, but nothing changed. So we said: If we are going to support public schools and charter schools, let's also give low-income families the chance to apply for scholarships to attend the school of their choice. Let's give them that power. Because if you have got the resources, you already have school choice. You can send your kids to whatever school you want to send them to. You can move from the neighborhood you are in to where they have got a better school. But if you are poor and you are stuck in a bad neighborhood and your child doesn't have that chance or, frankly, any chance, they are just dead in the water. Well, the D.C.…”