Joe Barton: “I rise in strong support of the Armey amendment. Mr. Chairman, I want to very quickly tell where we come from. We come…”

“I rise in strong support of the Armey amendment. Mr. Chairman, I want to very quickly tell where we come from. We come from last weekend where there was a section of this bill that could be interpreted to require certification for home schoolers. Thanks to the outcry of the country and all of the people calling in, we have now seen the distinguished chairman of the committee of jurisdiction offer an amendment that passed, with the exception of one vote, that struck the entire section. The gentleman from Texas [Mr. Armey] now wants to offer an amendment that makes explicit the rights of home schoolers and private schoolers. Now, there can be a gentleman's disagreement about the technical nature of the amendment, and I would stipulate that is what the conference committee is all about is to work out some of those technical amendments. If you are for the principle of allowing home schoolers and their parents, to be taught at home, and private schools and parochial schools, vote for the Armey amendment. If we have got technical problems, we can work those problems out in the conference committee, and we should commend the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Armey] for offering this amendment.”