Burgess Owens

We share the same sentiments, but I think you are aware of what is taking place in the African American community, that there are large numbers of parents who have given up on the system and they want, they say they want vouchers. The…

We must be careful of folks coming in sheep clothing because it may not be the right thing that is applicable to our child getting a quality education. I think we can do that. We can do that and should do that expeditiously so that we can…

I just think that our children, our grandchildren will be very disappointed in us if we do not take advantage of this opportunity we have at this moment in American history. We have no evil empire to fight. We have the highest prosperity…

I am pleased that the gentlewoman has brought these statistics. You are talking about all students. We are talking about the mainstream. I am going to focus on just the African American community, but it is bad in many other places outside…

I fully concur in the gentleman's view that OSHA should not adopt work performance measures that can serve to bias the inspection process. The Clinton administration also strongly shares this view. I do want to take this time to…

One-third of all elementary and secondary schools in the United States, serving 14 million students, need extensive repair or renovation. Over 60 percent of the Nation's 110,000 public elementary and secondary school facilities need major…

Is there a ceiling on the amount we put into the International Monetary Fund? Do we stop somewhere?

I wanted to talk about the closeout, the ending of Black History Month. February was proclaimed as Black History Month or African-American History Month for 1998. But since that time there have been a number of developments which I think…

I would like to begin by saluting my colleague, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Louis Stokes). This is an annual Special Order that he has sponsored for many years, and we regret the fact that this is the last time that he will do it. We…

at a time when the Nation's attention is focused on education as a national priority and certain significant initiatives and programs have been clearly set forth by the President in the State of the Union address, the response of the…

I hope that all the Members of Congress will not let the present discussion that has been launched by the President in his State of the Union address, a list of items that he gave there related to education, I hope that that wonderful list…

I am here because I am inspired by his record; and I hope that, on the matter of education, we will achieve the same results so that somewhere down the line we are going to make a breakthrough to the conscience of Americans and they will…

I would like to begin by bringing America's attention to the name of a young lady. No, it is not a young lady who was an intern in the White House. It is a young lady who is now dead as a result of negligence on the part of our system. Her…

I salute the gentlewoman's sense of urgency. I think the message is quite urgent and my appeal is that we stop the business as usual approach in life and death matters. Gun control certainly is a life and death matter far more immediate…

I want to congratulate the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Youth, and Families, the gentleman from California [Mr. Martinez], and the chairman of the subcommittee, the gentleman from California [Mr. Riggs], and the…

As an elected official, have you gone to them and asked them to endorse vouchers?

I just wanted to ask the honorable majority leader if he could explain the fact that the State of Texas actually introduced vouchers in the legislature. They actually had a floor vote in Texas and it failed in the State legislature; it was…

the Republican majority that came into power 3 years ago insisting that the Department of Education be abolished, eliminated, has no validity, no credibility in this discussion. This is another cynical ploy, cynical partisan ploy to…

does the local school board of the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. Talent] endorse vouchers? Has he asked them to endorse vouchers?

What happens is that the Giuliani program is significant in that it says exactly what vouchers can do. There were 91,000 youngsters who had no place to sit when school opened in 1996. They took 1,000 of the 91,000 and they found a voucher…

we keep hearing examples of youngsters who live somewhere else. I would like to hear some examples of the children who live in my colleague's district.

as a matter of practice, I never like to criticize any efforts related to the improvement of education, whether they take place here or at the local government area or in the State governments. All efforts to improve education are…

I cannot think of any American out there who does not think that we could improve the Internal Revenue Service in some way, and hopefully in a way which relieves us of some of the unjust items that have affected us in the past in some way…

I want to address two major issues tonight. They are related in the long run. One is, schools and education are still in a state of crisis despite the fact that the American people have indicated that education is one of their number-one…

this Sabo amendment will save the District of Columbia from being another experimental ground for a bad piece of legislation. Davis-Bacon saves money. There is a study by Peter Phillips, a professor of the University of Utah, which showed…