Burgess Owens: “the CBC budget continues to clearly support education and job training as its number one priority. Over a 5-year period…”

“the CBC budget continues to clearly support education and job training as its number one priority. Over a 5-year period, $80 billion in increased funding is recommended. Everybody in Washington talks about the dangerous deficiencies in American education when compared with other industrialized nations and China. Twenty-three years ago when I came here, ``A Nation At Risk'' was the report commissioned by President Reagan, and it said all the same things about how deficient our education system was. Several recent studies also indicate these same kinds of deficiencies in math and science and other areas. Oprah Winfrey and Bill and Melinda Gates have taken this alarm to a mass audience. The whining and complaining about education goes on and on here in Washington, but nobody wants to appropriate any money except the CBC. Mr. Speaker, the future prosperity and security of our Nation is clearly dependent on our human resources, our brain power; and that brain power, large parts of it are in our inner cities' communities, and they need more funding for education. I urge all Members to vote for this CBC budget as the budget that deals with the priority of education.”