Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to honor the extraordinary career of Ken Smith, who at one time was from Delaware and then Virginia and now makes his home in Florida. A long time ago, in the faraway land of Delaware, Ken was a young policy assistant to Governor Pete du Pont, after serving as a staff aide during the Nixon administration. His career in education had started in 1973 when President Nixon appointed him vice chairman of the National Advisory Council on the Education of Disadvantaged Children. Governor du Pont and Ken made the startling discovery that there was enormous economic, social, and cultural potential residing in adults who had dropped out of high school but were never realized because of educational and career blockages. These were smart kids, but kids who, for whatever reason, had to quit school and go to work. With the Governor's blessing and leadership, Ken created Jobs for Delaware's Graduates, a model program for intervening with the young women and men most likely to drop out, saving them not just to get them to graduation but to land them in good jobs or at least postsecondary education. Jobs for Delaware's Graduates worked so well, Governor du Pont shared its success with Republican and Democratic Governors across the country, and many created their own programs. Vice President Walter Mondale was so impressed, he asked them to replicate it across the country.…”