Political Quotes

“we are about to vote on the School-to- Work Opportunities Act, S. 1361. The House passed it yesterday so now its our chance to act in a strong bipartisan way to give young people the training and resources they need to be good workers and good citizens. The vote count was 339 to 79 with more Republicans voting in favor of this education reform measure than against. We originally passed S. 1361 on February 8, 62 to 31. So today, we in this body will once again have the chance to join together to show the American people that we can get past party and past the divisions of left and right to invest in our collective future. School-to-Work and Youth Apprenticeship Programs are built on a simple truth--people learn best by doing. It is like the old Chinese proverb: ``What I hear, I forget. What I see, I remember. What I do, I understand.'' The point is to empower young people to be active, not passive, in learning the skills needed to qualify for good jobs and be productive workers. Real learning requires more than textbooks, you have to get your hands dirty. The United States lags way behind our competitors in Europe and Asia in preparing young people, especially those who choose not to go to college, for the world of work. Germany and Japan have developed extensive, integrated youth education and job training programs to succeed in the high-technology, global economy of the 21st century.”