Joe Cunningham: “I think if we had more debate like this, I find this very refreshing, I think we are talking to issues, we are talking…”

“I think if we had more debate like this, I find this very refreshing, I think we are talking to issues, we are talking about education, we are not talking politics. I would like to thank Members on both sides. In the 104th Congress, as chairman of a subcommittee basically responsible for K through 12 education, we had several hearings. One of those hearings, or all five of the hearings in one area, showed that our children were not competing for entry level jobs. The fact is that they could not read, they could not write, they could not speak the English language, or did not have the high-technical skills available. In my own district, there are two gentlemen, both immigrants. One is named Paul Ecke who donates large amounts of money and his passion is education, as is a Hispanic friend of mine, Ralph Peskera, recently tasked to look at education on school entrance into college. The sad thing is many of those students were not prepared to meet the college level education. Many of us feel that more of the resources should be focused on the lower levels instead of so much on the higher levels. Again, I think that is why this debate is very refreshing.”