On the recordJune 18, 1998
I believe that it was not very many years ago when we could stand up proudly in this Nation and say that. I believe when I was a child going through public schools that this Nation could stand up and say before the world, we have the best, most accessible public education for the children of America than any nation in the history of the world. I believe at that time in America we were in fact the envy of the world for what we were able to do and were in fact doing in the education of our children. But something has changed, Mr. Speaker. Something has changed, and it is a matter of enormous concern and heartbreak to the American people. We cannot say that anymore. And our children are paying the cost. We are not concerned here with children who fail in school so much as we are concerned with schools that are failing America.
Source
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