Political Quotes

“it is with an abiding respect and great reluctance that I oppose the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton), my friend and colleague, but I support this legislation. I think a few things need to be said. First, this is not taking one cent from the public schools in the District of Columbia, which have the highest spending rate per pupil in the Washington region right now. And I will join the gentlewoman in making sure they have the money to continue to build a quality public school system. But we have tried through a presidentially appointed control board to make the system better, and it is clear it is more than a one-year ordeal. It is going to take several years. We recognize and we have to recognize the current failures of the public school system that the Washington Post this morning labeled ``troubled.'' The dropout rate is the highest in the region. Test scores the lowest almost in the country. Opened four years in a row late. It is just not operating. It is so bad that no Member of Congress sends their kids through the District of Columbia public school system today. The President and the Vice President, offered those opportunities, did as most of us and declined and opted for private schools, and I do not blame them or fault them in any way because the school system today is not something that we could be proud of. Madam Speaker, I want to work to make it better. This is a scholarship.…”