Burgess Owens: “$1.3 billion is a very tiny amount, but it is one step forward. $1.3 billion is $1.3 billion above zero. The Republican…”

“$1.3 billion is a very tiny amount, but it is one step forward. $1.3 billion is $1.3 billion above zero. The Republican majority has offered nothing. This small step to take care of emergency repairs will open the door, I hope, to an understanding that our schools are a part of our national security system. We had 300 personnel short of an aircraft carrier launched last year because we did not have the right personnel to put on. They could not meet the high-tech requirements. We have a bill coming up next week to bring in people from outside the country to take jobs in our high-tech industries. Those same people came from countries that built their own nuclear industry on the basis of what they learned here as students and as workers here. We need to deal with the problem of $254 billion needed to bring up our school infrastructure as determined by the National Education Association survey, which was completed recently. The General Accounting Office in 1995 said we needed $110 billion at that time. Enrollments have grown. We need to spend on a level which understands that we are going into the 21st century, a cyber civilization.”