Stephanie Herseth Sandlin: “American children, American education, what better investment could we make? What higher priority could we have in the…”

“American children, American education, what better investment could we make? What higher priority could we have in the United States Congress than in our children? Mr. Speaker, today, we have heard a lot of talking back and forth about the name of this Congress. I do not know about that, and I do not particularly want to get involved in that, but I do know this, we have an opportunity today to be known as the ``do something good Congress,'' because we can take one vote, take one day, and we can invest in America's children, and we can invest in education. We have had a lot of talk today about who controls education. Education is properly controlled at the local level. In Texas, local citizens elect a local school board that hires a local superintendent, and they have local teachers that teach local children of local parents that support our local schools. But that does not mean that the Federal Government cannot be helpful. We can be a junior partner in education. We can help provide the tools and the capital that our local communities need to address local problems and educate local children. A junior partner is not controlling, but he is important. We need to meet our important responsibility and obligation to America's children by joining with local communities in education.”