George H.W. Bush: “Well, thank you very much, Governor Romer. And what I really wanted to do is to come over and join my colleagues from…”

“Well, thank you very much, Governor Romer. And what I really wanted to do is to come over and join my colleagues from the Department of Education--particularly our Secretary--in thanking this busy and distinguished group of Governors who are taking the lead on our educational reform. Roy, at the outset, thank you, sir, as chairman. And let me say, we are enthused over your concept of this interim council--very much so-- and delighted that you and Carroll are willing to undertake that commitment. I'm pleased to be here with the National Education Goals Panel as you tackle tough work on behalf of the entire country. And all of us feel that you're doing a great job. And I want especially to thank the Governors who spent so much of the past year traveling--as Roy said-- around the country and traveling to Washington to deal with this challenging assignment. We all owe a great debt to Governor Romer and to his colleagues for their important work on this panel. And so, thank you all very, very much. You know, there are only a few moments in our lives when we are called upon to join a crusade, and I honestly believe this is one of them. We have a crisis in American education, and we've simply got to do something about it. I just came from a meeting with the National Federation of Independent Businesses, NFIB. And I talked to them about economic growth--something we can't achieve without an educated, motivated work force.…”