Burgess Owens: “first I would like to applaud the fact that we have been discussing education now for more than 2 hours and that both…”

“first I would like to applaud the fact that we have been discussing education now for more than 2 hours and that both parties have chosen to talk about education tonight. It is an indication of the kind of priority that we have set here in Washington on education, both parties. As I said earlier this afternoon, we are in a situation now where something wonderful is going to happen in the 105th Congress as a result of the bipartisan cooperation, which I think is very sincere and very real. We have a problem, however, that there are people holding on to the past, the recent past, the past of the 104th Congress. They really understand that there is a new environment for the discussion of education issues as a new political environment, and they discovered that political environment last year during the 104th Congress. The Contract With America made an onslaught on Federal participation in education. The Contract With America came forward and proposed to eliminate, eradicate, the Department of Education. They proposed to cut school lunches, they proposed to cut Head Start, they proposed to cut Title I. I do not want to dwell too much on that unfortunate, very uncomfortable situation of the 104th Congress, but it is important to set all discussion within the context of the great triumph accomplished by the common sense of the American people.…”