Bob Etheridge

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from California (Mrs. Capps) for her remarks, and I thank the children. We tend to forget here sometimes that it really is about them. We get to dealing with a lot of weighty issues, and they are important. But in the end, most of us, if we are honest with ourselves, it is really about our children, our other children. And all the issues of security, safety, et cetera is about that, and that is why I introduced the bill early on for school construction. I am glad to see the kind of structures taken, and I would say to my colleagues that in addition to those 200-some people that signed, the leadership in this body has still refused to bring it up. We have now drafted a letter, and we have over 150 of our colleagues having signed it to go to the President. I hope all the rest of them will sign it by next week, encouraging them not to give in on any issue until we get some school construction money for children across this country. My friend, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt), has been a real leader. He came here as a teacher. He still is teaching us about the importance of education. I am glad to have him join us this evening in this Special Order, and I yield to him.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Clement) for his comments, but, more importantly, for his commitment to education and his hard work. As we continue in this special order, I am pleased to be joined by the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps), my friend and fellow colleague, who has really been a leader in education. She understands the needs of students. She came to this body with her husband. She is a nurse by training. She understands what the need is, and she fought for children to have a decent classroom in California, which is another one of those States that is busting at the seams. I yield to her for her comments.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to include therein extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order this evening.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I am joined this evening by a number of my colleagues to talk about an issue of equal importance to this Congress and to our Nation and, yes, to our leadership in the world: Education. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the critical needs of school construction, the shortage of teachers, the need to honor our teachers in a way that we have not done before. The critical need for construction in our communities across this country is at a crisis proportion. I will be joined this evening by a number of my colleagues whom I will recognize in just a moment, who will discuss with me and with my colleagues the specific needs and plans that we have to help address these problems. First, let me take just a moment to talk about some of the conditions in my congressional district. Mr. Speaker, I have in my hand this evening a report prepared by the minority staff of the Committee on Government Reform's special investigative committee which is entitled K-3 Class Sizes in the North Carolina Research Triangle Region. The gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price) and I asked that this be done for our congressional districts, and this report has some startling numbers. It shocked the people in our congressional districts and it should shock all Americans that care about children and care about the future of America, and we want to talk about that this evening. Although there is much debate and an awful lot of rhetoric in this town about education, I believe we need to stick to the facts, and here are some of the facts. Fact number one, last year in one of our countries, Wake County, a portion of my district, another portion of the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price), over 95 percent, let me repeat that again, over 95 percent of the young children in K-3 were taught in classrooms that exceeded the national goal for classroom size. Across this 13-county region, 91 percent of the children in kindergarten through the third grade were taught in classes that exceeded the 18-person goal. I went into a classroom in Lee County where a teacher had 29 children in the kindergarten classroom with no help. Five of those children spoke no English and their parents spoke no English. Three only had limited English. Now, my wife and I, we are fortunate. We have three great children. I would not want 29 children that I had to deal with at any one time in our house. I would have a difficult time. And to deal with young children in kindergarten by yourself with those numbers, one cannot do it; one absolutely cannot teach. They are keeping school. There is a difference between keeping school and teaching school, and that is just not acceptable. More troubling is the fact that a whopping 42.5 percent of K-3 students in Wake County are in large classrooms of 25 students or more, and I can say that is repeated in a lot of places across this country. Not surprisingly, small class sizes lead to greater academic achievement. If the class size is reduced, academic achievement follows. How do we get there? We are going to talk about that this evening, not only in K-3 but all across America. The report demonstrates that class size reduction in the early grades is one of the most direct and effective ways to improve educational performance. I really did not need the study to tell me that. I have known that for a long time. Having served as a superintendent for my State schools for 8 years, I knew that before I came to Congress. Sometimes we need a report to verify it, to reinforce it so people will understand it and it gives credibility. Last month, the U.S. Department of Education reported that my State's high school enrollment will skyrocket by 26 percent over the next decade. We will be the fourth fastest growing State in America. I think California is first; Texas and several others. But it is just tremendous. We are growing rapidly in this country. We have to meet those demands. We now have more children in public schools, 53 million, than at any time in the history of America. We know the problem is only going to get worse. It is not going to get better. We have to deal with it, and local schools need help and they need us in Washington to get together and help. We have an opportunity to do it. I have a son who taught the second grade, then the fourth grade. Now he is a special teacher. Brian is a great teacher, but one cannot be a good or a great teacher when they are in over-crowded classrooms, poorly lighted, poorly ventilated and all the problems that are associated with it, because in this country we have teachers teaching in converted bathrooms. We have them teaching in closets, in basements and a lot of trailers. I will go into that later this evening, but we have to reach out and use the resources that we have to make a difference for our children. It is hard to tell a child education is the most important thing they are about and we send them to an old rundown school as they ride by some nice prison or a nice other building. Children do not have to be told. They know what is important. Mr. Speaker, I would be happy now to yield to my colleague, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Clement), who has joined us this evening, because he has some important things to say. He has been involved in this educational issue all of his career, and we are glad to have him in Congress. Mr. Speaker, I will now yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Clement).

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, this evening for the first portion of my special order I want to take about 5 minutes to raise an issue. On the eve of 1 year ago, on almost the same date, one of the most destructive storms ever to hit my State came upon the shores. On September 15, 1999, Hurricane Floyd made landfall at the mouth of the Cape Fear River in North Carolina. Floyd moved into the interior of my State and over the next couple of days proceeded to dump anywhere from 10 to 20 inches of rain in towns and communities and farm areas in parts of eastern North Carolina. These rains came only 12 days after the region was hit with pounding rains by Hurricane Dennis. To call the results devastating would be an understatement. Our citizens suffered a full-blown catastrophe of monumental proportions. Floyd produced the worst flooding in North Carolina history, with water exceeding what has been called the 500-year flood plain. In North Carolina alone, Floyd was responsible for 7,000 homes being destroyed and 56,000 homes damaged. We can see from this photograph taken only a couple days after the rains as the flood waters had risen a whole town underwater. More than 500,000 people suffered without power for weeks on end. Damage estimates in my State range anywhere from $4.5 billion to over $6 billion. Many people lost everything that they own. They lost their possessions, their homes, their farms, their cars, their clothing, their sentimental items that we rarely think about until they are gone: wedding photographs, military awards, the children's first report cards, love letters, those kind of things we cannot replace. Jobs were lost because businesses were too flooded to reopen, making it that much harder for families to rebuild. And worst of all, Mr. Speaker, 506 people lost their lives, most of them due to drowning in fresh water. I remember driving back to North Carolina that night and running into the storm on my way home. I remember touring the regions in the days that followed and seeing schools, homes, businesses, churches, entire towns flooded, as we see here. At the peak of the emergency, 235 public shelters housed people. Almost 50,000 people were in shelters. I remember visiting them looking into their eyes and seeing the fear, the desperation, the hopelessness that those people felt. These were the images that no amount of time will ever replace. In the face of so much destruction, so much suffering, it was inspiring to witness the people and the communities coming together and responding to disaster with the spirit of generosity and cooperation. People from all over North Carolina provided the victims of Floyd not only tangible items, like money, food, and supplies, but also equally important intangible things, their thoughts, their prayers, and their letters of support. Another precious commodity donated was the time and effort countless thousands of North Carolinians gave. Volunteers aided in evacuation and rescue efforts and cleanups that affected towns and the care and treatment of families that were forced to live in shelters. In addition, those volunteers provided valuable assistance and support to State emergency management personnel who worked untold hours. They led a valiant effort to respond to the needs of these victims, saving countless lives of people from all across this country and also donated to the cause of recovery. I am so grateful for the many acts of generosity by my fellow Americans who saw people were hurting and decided to help. Yes, they sent money; but they sent a lot of other things. We even had schoolbooks delivered from as far away as Hawaii by my friend and colleague, the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. Abercrombie), here in this body. From the governor to our own State's delegation here in Congress, from Federal agencies to local leaders, the assistance North Carolina received provided absolutely critical help to our people. One year later, my State is still rebuilding, and we will be rebuilding for months, if not years, to come. It is the assistance provided by my fellow Americans that made this possible, and as we reconstruct our State we are taking the necessary steps to provide for future disasters. By making our towns and cities more disaster resistant, we can reduce the loss of lives and property and lessen the devastating impact of future storms. If this storm did anything it proved determination and resolve of the indomitable spirit of the people of North Carolina. Our people come by the name Terrell honestly because we stand firm in the face of adversity. If anything knocks us down, we get right back up and fight another day. Floyd dealt my State a crippling blow; but we are working to put our lives, our homes, our communities and ourselves back together. The people of North Carolina will never forget what happened in those days in September and the months that followed. Floyd has become part of our history, our culture, and our common experience. As Americans do when looking back upon a tragedy of this proportion, we were continually praying for our lost souls, comforting the anguished and distraught, honoring our heroes, rebuilding our homes and communities and looking toward the future. The Importance of Education

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, let me thank my colleagues who are still on the floor and others who have left this evening, because we really are serious about this issue. It is an issue that is critical to America's future as we talk in this Special Order about creative solutions to these problems. Certainly school construction is part of it as we invest in a national commitment to educational excellence where schools are accountable to our taxpayers for raising standards and every child has an opportunity to learn. One cannot learn when one is not in the right kind of conditions. Improving education in this country is about creating a classroom environment where children can learn and teachers can teach. Mr. Speaker, I was in Sampson County on Sunday and dedicated a new school. It was amazing how important that school, on the outskirts of a small community, identifies a community. Our schools do identify communities. We need to foster a greater connection between students, teachers, and parents. Our schools can do better; and with our help, they will do better, and we have to quit pointing fingers and start joining hands. Mr. Speaker, it is amazing what a hand is about when we give a helping hand instead of pointing fingers. We are good at pointing fingers around here. One of the best ways we can improve education, as we have talked about this evening, is to help provide for smaller class size, help provide for more teachers, where we can have orderly and disciplined classrooms, where children get the additional attention that is so badly needed. We have children coming to our public schools to start from a variety of backgrounds, children who are loved; unfortunately, some who are not loved like they should be. Some who are well advanced and others who are not. But teachers try not to differentiate; they love and care for all of them and try to ignite that flame of learning in each child. They can only do it if we give them the help and support they need. We do need a national commitment to the notion that parents in America have the right to expect that their children will have the best teacher in the world in that classroom. There are places in this country where they absolutely do not have the money; they do not have the resources to do it. They cannot build the buildings, and they cannot hire the teachers. Dagburnit, we ought to be about helping them. That is what America is about. We need to provide support for teachers as they do this difficult, difficult task. It is a critically important job. It is the most important job we are about in rearing children early. We have had enough teacher-bashing in this body the last few years; and an awful lot of it, I am sorry to say, has come from my Republican colleagues on the other side of the aisle, and that must end and it must end now. We have to come together and help. We are in this thing together. Our children deserve no less. We must make every neighborhood school in this country work, and work as they should. That is why we are working to help pass H.R. 4094, and that is a bipartisan piece of legislation. I am thankful that we have finally gotten there. It does provide $25 billion for school construction money across the country. A lot of money? Yes. Not nearly enough to get the job done, but enough to get started and say we do have a commitment at the national level; and yes, we are going to be a partner. Unfortunately, this Congress has failed to act, and the leadership has not brought it to the floor to provide our local communities with the assistance they need. Mr. Speaker, our schools are bursting at the seams. In communities throughout my district and across this country, the flood of student enrollments keep coming, and at the public school level, there will not be and cannot be a sign on the door that says, no vacancy. We can do that in a lot of other schools. Private schools can say, we cannot take anyone else. Colleges and universities can find a way not to accept, but when school opens in September and August and they keep coming as they transfer, they take them, and classes get overcrowded. We must continue to take them and help them. We have to help our schools meet this challenge. This Congress must take action to help these communities cope with this urgent problem, and we must act this year. We cannot wait another year. For many of these children who will be stuck in trailers, shoved in closets, crammed in the bathrooms and in converted other rooms, gymnasiums, substandard facilities, that is not acceptable in a country that has the resources we have. This country needs to help schools where better order and discipline can foster better learning for all of our children. Mr. Speaker, I urge this Congress to stop playing partisan games, to lay down our swords and pick up the language of working together and put our Nation's children first. Pass school construction legislation without further delay. Mr. Speaker, I have written a letter to the President with the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) and a number of my colleagues insisting that school construction, in any final budget compromise with the congressional Republicans, be the highest priority. More than 150 of my colleagues have joined me; and I trust before early next week, we will have over 200 names, as we have on the bill. The American people consider this their highest priority. They want to improve education by building new schools, hiring new teachers, reducing class sizes and improving order and discipline in the classrooms so that our children can get the attention they need and learn as they should learn. Mr. Speaker, again, I want to thank my Democratic colleagues for joining me this evening in this very important Special Order. There are a lot of things we deal with in this body that are important, no question about it. This is the people's House, one of the greatest Nations in the world. But I am here to tell my colleagues that there is no issue that we face on the threshold of the 21st century that is more important to the security of this Nation, to the prosperity that we hope to have in the 21st century, than that we have the resolve and the commitment to do what needs to be done for the children of America.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. The gentleman is absolutely correct, because the way it is drafted, the locals only pay the principal back. They determine it. The interest is paid by all of us as citizens in this country. It is not unique, because we do it on other kinds of projects in this country. For some to say it has not been done, it was really done in education right after World War II, some money was appropriated because of the growth. We are at a time now where we are seeing phenomenal growth, a tremendous economy, none like we have ever seen before in this country, and we not only have an obligation, we have a great opportunity to make a difference and propel this economy at a whole new level. As we move forward and as we talk about construction, as important as that is, and that is a critical part, we need people to go in those classrooms, the 100,000 teachers, the next installment we are talking about this year. That is going to be a fight before we adjourn, count on it. They want to block grant it. Well, having been State superintendent, I will share with you what a block grant means, and to my other colleagues. I want Members to understand what we are talking about. It means you use it for whatever you want to use it for. As a Member of this Congress, if I want it spend it for teachers, and I think the people out there would tell you it goes for class sizes, put it on teachers, I guarantee you parents will say the same thing. They do not want it diluted. As we do that, one of the critical pieces we are going to be facing over the next 10 years is replacing all the teachers that have the ability to retire. I think that is a great challenge, one of the challenges. While we are on this, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price) introduced some legislation, and I hope he will share his thoughts on that as we look between the two of you at this whole issue, because having taught, you understand it.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this conference report and to discuss one of the important initiatives which it contains. As has been said, this is the first NASA reauthorization to pass Congress since 1992, and I want to congratulate the chairman and ranking Democratic members on the Committee on Science and the subcommittees, on which I have the pleasure of serving, for the accomplishment of have gotten this bill here. This is not a perfect bill, but I think, on balance, it represents significant progress. This bill increases funding for many important priorities, including space science, Earth science, aerospace technology, science grants, Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other vital initiatives. As the former superintendent of North Carolina's schools, I am particularly pleased by the improvements in the educational provisions of this bill, and I am proud to discuss an important education initiative that I recommended and the committee accepted that is a part of this bill. This bill directs NASA to develop an education initiative for our Nation's schools in recognition of the 100th anniversary of the first powered flight which will take place on December 17, 2003. On this date in 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright took their dreams of powered flight from the drawing boards of their bicycle shop to the Crystal Coast of North Carolina. On that day, our world was changed forever. The anniversary of this historic accomplishment provides an excellent opportunity for our Nation's schools to promote the importance of math and science and education. Mr. Speaker, America's future will depend on our ability to adapt to change in technology that will dominate life in the 21st century. Our Nation's record economic growth is being fueled by gains in the technology sector, but recent studies show that America's students are falling behind their counterparts around the world in areas of math and science education. It is no longer a luxury to demand excellence in science and mathematics; it is an absolute necessity. The 100th Anniversary of Flight Education Initiative will use the history of flight and the benefits of flight on science and mathematics and scientific principles that are underlying the flight to generate interest among students in math and science education. This initiative provides an excellent opportunity to recapture our young people's interests in the wonders of flight and space exploration and rekindle their interests in math and science. Mr. Speaker, I commend the committee's leaders for including this important provision in the bill, and encourage my colleagues to support this conference report.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor my friend, Ray G. Smith. Ray will be sworn in as the National Commander of the American Legion at their annual convention today. No one is more deserving of this honor than Ray G. Smith. As a 45-year member of the American Legion, he has steadily gained the respect of Legionnaires all across the country. Like me, Ray grew up in Johnston County, North Carolina. He joined the Air Force in 1951 and saw active duty during the Korean War. He served in the 20th Air Force, 19th Bomb Wing at Anderson Air Force Base in Guam, where his specialized training in engineering required him to spend much of his time during the war traveling throughout the Pacific and Southeast Asia. Ray's military service did not end when he left active duty in 1955. He spent four years in the active Air Force Reserves and was honorably discharged in 1959. On September 7, 1955, the day after he was discharged from the Air Force, Ray became a member of the American Legion. Since then, he has risen steadily through the ranks. Ray has held numerous offices at the post, district, department and national levels, including North Carolina Department Commander in 1979 and National Vice Commander in 1988. Ray's campaign for National Commander has taken the better part of two years and sent him all over the country. Being named National Commander of the American Legion is an enormous responsibility, but Ray's dedication and years of loyal service have proven that no one is more capable or worthy of this high honor. Only the second North Carolinian to serve as national commander, Ray will oversee an organization that has grown to 2.8 million strong since it was created by Congress in 1919. As National Commander, one of Ray's main duties will involve working with us here in Congress to ensure that those who have sacrificed so much for our country receive the benefits they have earned. As a veteran of the United States Army myself, I look forward to working with Ray and all members of the American Legion on issues that are important to veterans. As we celebrate Ray's swearing in today, let us each take a moment to honor our veterans. For each of us, freedom is a way of life, a legacy left to us by our nation's founders. This freedom is costly. America owes veterans a debt of gratitude for their sacrifices. It is the service of these genuine American heroes that has helped make this country great. Mr. Speaker, no one is more qualified to represent and lead these heroes than my friend Ray G. Smith.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4534, a bill to designate a facility of the United States Postal Service as the James T. Broyhill Post Office Building. This legislation, which was cosponsored by every Member of the North Carolina Delegation, is a fitting tribute to one of our state's model public servants. Jim Broyhill was born on August 19, 1927, in Lenoir, North Carolina to the late J.E. and Sadie Hunt Broyhill and is a graduate of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His parents taught him the value of service and devotion to his community that has guided him throughout his career in public service. That career began in 1962, in the old 8th Congressional District of North Carolina, when Broyhill won his first of eleven elections to the House of Representatives. Upon his election, Broyhill immediately began to build a reputation for honesty and integrity that allowed him to wield influence with both Democrats and Republicans. During his 11 terms in the House, Broyhill made a name for himself as a member, and later as Ranking Member, of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Following the untimely death of Senator John East, then Governor Jim Martin appointed Broyhill to complete the remaining two years of Senator East's term. In 1986, Broyhill's 24-year Congressional career ended when he lost his bid to win his Senate seat outright. Despite his personally disappointing loss, Broyhill continued to work on the behalf of the people of North Carolina. Broyhill's public career continued as he served as the Chairman of the North Carolina Economic Development Board. In 1989 Governor Martin gave Broyhill the responsibility of promoting and expanding North Carolina business and industry by appointing him the Secretary of the Department of Commerce. Jim Broyhill retired from public service in 1991 to spend more time with his wife, Louise Robbins, his children, and his grandchildren. Madam Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to pay tribute to a great North Carolinian and American by naming a Post Office in Lenoir after James T. Broyhill. I ask my colleagues to support H.R. 4534, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt), and I would say this evening is a very appropriate time as we do this order and talk about education simply because in some communities right now, school is getting ready to open. I went this morning to one where teachers were coming back and over the next several weeks, schools all across America will be opening up. There are some that are year-round schools that are going to be there all year, but there are those who will open up. Mr. Speaker, 94 Members in this House have signed this bill to build new schools. The gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) and the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson) have signed on this bipartisan bill. It enjoys the support of an awful lot of Members of this House, and if we can get it to the floor, I think it will pass. I trust that the Republican leadership will give us a chance to vote on it. But when school opens for many places across America in the next few weeks, as I have already said, America will have more schoolchildren in our classrooms than at any time in the history of our Republic. More than even during the height of the baby boom. I guess one way to say it is that it is getting better; some might say it is getting worse. I happen to say it is getting better, because we have more children in our public schools. Mr. Speaker, we are in the best financial condition and have the best opportunity in this country that I can remember. As the U.S. Department of Education has documented, this explosive growth will continue for the next decade, and we ought to use this time and use these resources and opportunities we have to invest in our future, and invest in our children. It is wrong, it is absolutely wrong that we ask children to be in cramped closets, on stages, in leaky buildings, in trailers that we would not put a prisoner in, but we put our children in it and we tell teachers to teach there. They are hot in the summer and they are cold in the winter and that is wrong, absolutely wrong and unacceptable in a country that has the resources that we have. We ought to be investing. It would not take a lot. It would only take just a few small pennies of what we have here to make a difference all across America. The baby boom echo presents an immediate crisis in many states. My home State happens to be one of those. It is one of the fastest growing States in America. Mr. Speaker, this Congress must take action to build quality schools for our children. We not only have that responsibility, we have that obligation. As these 53 million-plus students head back to school this fall, they will know that we did not live up to our obligation last year. I trust we will not adjourn in October without meeting that obligation this year. We have that responsibility and that obligation. Too many of these children again this year will be stuck in trailers, shoved in closets, crammed into bathrooms that were converted to classrooms, and gyms and other substandard facilities and in some cases buildings that do not have glass in the windows. That is not acceptable. Mr. Speaker, how do we tell a child that education is really important when they just rode by a new prison to go to an old rundown school building? That is not right. It is not right in America. It is not acceptable. Our communities need help to build quality schools where good order and discipline fosters a positive learning environment for our children. Our teachers deserve it also. Mr. Speaker, let me close this evening finally by saying there is another issue I want to touch on just briefly that my State has worked on, and I have introduced legislation in this Congress and trust that it will pass. That is on character education. We did a survey in my State of 25,000 students, teachers, parents and school employees and nearly one-third of them indicated that they did not treat their teachers with respect. This was in 1989-90, 10 years ago. Mr. Speaker, we put in place character education. We started out with ethics education and turned it into character education. It is now part of the curriculum in our State and it is making a difference. It is integrated into the curriculum. It is not separate. It teaches such thing as trustworthiness. Who can disagree with that? Respect. Who can disagree with that? Responsibility, caring, fairness, citizenship, perseverance, courage and self-discipline. We can all agree with that. Those are American traits. Every child should be taught that. It makes a difference in their life, they are better students as a result of it, and those classrooms and schools across North Carolina that have instituted it, they are seeing discipline problems go down and academics go up. All we need to do is look at what is happening in North Carolina. It is making a difference. Mr. Speaker, as I close this evening, I would call on my colleagues to step up to the plate, as we say in baseball, and face up to the responsibility that we have an obligation to fund the 100,000 teachers so children can be taught in smaller classes and make sure that we have the classrooms children can learn in and teachers can teach in. So that parents once again will have the kind of respect they need to have because they feel we put the money where we ought to put it and invest it in the future and we ought to be putting the character opportunities to teach. As the parent of two teachers, with a wife who teaches, and children who have gone through the public school, I will say this evening that our future is in the K-12 public schools in America where 90-plus percent of all of our children go. We cannot turn our backs on the opportunity for all of our children.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, as the gentleman from New Jersey was speaking, I was thinking as we were going through that what the gentleman is talking about is 2.5 million. That does not include the growth numbers we are going to need for whatever that baby boom echo carries out for years. As we think about education, and the gentleman has been a real leader in this certainly in math and science education, but the gentleman has expanded to all education and I thank him for that, bringing his background to this hall of the people's house. But we recognize that when we talk about hiring more teachers, even with the 100,000 that we are providing in resources, so that our colleagues understand and those who may be watching this evening, we really are talking about them being hired where they teach. They are not hired in Washington. In my case, when I was in Raleigh as State Superintendent, they were not hired at the State capitals. They were hired in the communities where the people are. That is why it is important when we talk about categorical money, so that people understand, that is money sent down specifically for teachers. When we send a block grant, that is a money that can be pulled away. That is why we think it is important to send that string for teachers so when they hire an individual, if they hire them to teach, they have a job this year and that money is going to follow next year. Mr. Speaker, when a person makes a commitment to a career in education, they know they are not going to get rich but they are going to be rich in rewards and responsibilities. My son reminds me that his groceries cost just as much when he gets his paycheck as a teacher as the groceries of the president of the largest bank. So we have to recognize if we are going to keep good teachers in the classroom and continue to attract the quality of people that we need to teach our children, we are going to have to make a decision. Congress certainly cannot do that. It is a local-level and a State- level decision, but we ought not to be bad mouthing them. We ought to be raising them up and empowering them. And any way we can help, if we can fund 100,000 teachers, certainly we can do that. Can we help with school construction? Yes, we can help with that. Can we help with staff development at the university level? Absolutely, we can do that. Mr. Speaker, rather than talk about these things that I think are irresponsible, and block grants and vouchers, we ought to be talking about how we can help and hold up and encourage. Young people respond. I remember something in a book I read by Coach John Wooden of UCLA, one of the great basketball coaches of all time in his book entitled, They Call Me Coach. He had several great lines, only one of which I will share this evening. He said: You know, children need role models, not critics. Mr. Speaker, I believe teachers need encouragement, not criticism from public officials and certainly not from this body, the body that people around this country and around the world look to for leadership from time to time. We ought to be their greatest cheerleaders saying to them, ``We are here to support you and help you. We are going to do what we can to help make your life better.'' And, yes, we are going to send 100,000 teachers and, yes, we can afford to pay that interest to make sure that we have quality classrooms all across this country for children to go to and teachers to teach in. People recognize in America education all of the sudden again is one of the most important things we have in every community and help our people. As the gentleman from New Jersey indicated earlier, it certainly will not go all the way to correct all the needs, but it will be a start. It will say it is a high priority with those of us in Washington. And, yes, it will have some impact on that local property tax. Mr. Speaker, I yield back to the gentleman.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. The gentleman is absolutely correct. When we talk about the number of teachers we are going to need over the next 4 or 5 years that are retiring and the openings and the challenges this country faces in having teachers in front of those classes who are the best teachers we can get who are certified in their curriculum area and doing the things we need to really raise our standards, that probably is a special order for a whole other day, and I hope we can talk about that because I think it is important as we are looking at 53 million students this year and more coming next year and over the next 10 years we are going to see growth. It is what we are calling the ``baby boom echo.'' I used to tell folks we are growing so fast in North Carolina, we have low unemployment, a lot of folks moving in. We can always tell because school folks tend to want to project out how many teachers they are going to need, how many schools they are going to need. They can do a pretty good job based on live births; take the births in a community and go 5 years out and they can expect them to be coming to kindergarten. We have a lot of folks moving into our community coming from other places, who have a habit of bringing their children with them. That expands the opportunity, the need for more school buildings. But I think that we need to provide more support for our teachers, because they do have a very difficult but a critical job that has to be done. Because if we do not have the best people in those classrooms and we do not support them with the resources they need, we do not give them the kind of environment to teach in with the tools to teach our children, we are going to pay a heavy price in years to come. Mr. Speaker, there is nothing in, my opinion, outside of protecting our borders with our military and our national defense, the second most important thing we have is educating the next generation to be able to inherit the greatest country in the world. Because if we do not do that, we will rue the day that we did not do that.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. I agree.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. I thank the gentleman for that. The gentleman is absolutely correct. When some people use the words they talk about students and children, they really are not talking about all children. They do not mean all children. The gentleman does. I do. I trust that is what we are talking about when we talk about public education. I used to tell folks when I was superintendent, and I still do it as I talk, the difference between public school and any other school, than any other, is that when those yellow school buses show up in the front of that school, they do not ask those children have they had breakfast; they do not ask them if they came from a wealthy household with two parents; they do not ask them anything. They take all comers with all their opportunities, with all their challenges, and those teachers go in those classrooms every single day and work their heart out to make sure that every child does the best they can do. It is a tough job being a teacher. I have a son who is a fourth grade teacher. It is a tough job. I admire him for it because I have been in and seen some of the challenges they face. My daughter was a high school teacher. She is now going to law school. I guess for whatever reason she wants to go into education law. One of the best ways that we can improve education is one of the things the gentleman just talked about is providing smaller class sizes that are orderly, disciplined and where every child can get that additional attention that they so badly need. When we talk about private schools, or any other area, we really are talking about personalized attention, smaller class sizes, because when a child has a smaller class size, they can get more individualized attention. That is why this Congress is working with the President trying to get 100,000 new teachers, and we are not talking about block grant so the money can be used for a lot of other things. I was a superintendent. I know what will happen when block grants are sent. I was at the State level when Congress decided we are going to send a block grant, and the next thing we are going to do we are going to cut that sucker because we decided less can be used in administration; so we will cut it. Then when they cut it, they will come back and say a good enough job was not done with the money we sent so we are just going to cut it out; teachers or staff cannot be hired in block grants. People tend to want to have a career path if they come into education. They are not looking for a one-year job to move somewhere else, and I do not think Members of this Congress still understand that when teachers are hired, the money ought to be categorized that they can use for that. Children show up in the classroom as kindergartners. The last time I checked, and the gentleman has been a proponent of this, they tend to stay 13 years. They need to be taught for those 13 years.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. The gentleman is absolutely correct. Architects are doing that, and I would say to our colleagues who have not been into a school lately, go into one. Talk with the teachers, spend some time other than visiting. They will find out that just because the buildings still may be square or are have corners, it is an entirely different place on the inside. I happen to agree with the gentleman on this issue of technology. As the gentleman indicated earlier, as a former superintendent of my State schools I also know firsthand of a lot of amazing stories and a lot of good things happening in our schools. For example, contrary to all the bad-mouthing our schools tend to get from partisan politicians, student mathematics achievement has improved. We need to do better. Between 1982 and 1996, students improved their achievement in mathematics as measured by the, as the gentleman well knows, National Assessment of Education Progress, one of the most respected testing services we have. Students in my home State, as an example, have made gains that are three times the national average of gains on NAEP. Some of the greatest gains have come from our minority students, which is crucial because we do not have a single child to waste in the 21st Century. We must bring everyone along. Today when unemployment is low and we are searching for workers, we need everyone. We have other good news as well, let me just say to the gentleman. Student science achievement is improving. The gentleman has been a leader in trying to make sure we get more dollars out there to improve it even more. SAT scores have increased every year since 1990. ACT scores are up. These are things people do not want to talk about when we are doing good things. Students are taking more AP courses. As the gentleman well knows, AP is the advance placement courses. In high school, one takes college level courses that they can use their first year in college. School violence is coming down, and that is important. Public school teachers are better educated than private school teachers. Some would want to say that is not true. These are statistics from the Department of Education. I think they happen to be accurate. More students are going on to higher education. We need even more to go in this 21st Century. More women are going on to graduate and to professional degrees. As I said, we have no one we can leave behind. It is making a difference. We have a lot more examples, but if America is going to seize the opportunity of this new economy that the gentleman was talking about earlier, Congress must provide national leadership in this vital area of education. We cannot shirk our responsibility because across this country American people are calling for a greater effort in investment in education, not less. Now the Republican leadership is proposing private school vouchers all over again, the same thing we have heard before. They want to take billions of dollars out of tax money and use it to finance private school vouchers. I happen to believe that is wrong. We do not have enough money in the public schools today. We should not be draining those resources away and leave our children behind to be condemned to a bleak future of failure. That is absolutely wrong, and my colleagues and I who have been working on this special order this evening we do have some ideas about how we can do better things. Yes, we must invest in a national commitment on education. Yes, we must hold schools accountable. Yes, we must be accountable to the taxpayers. Yes, we must raise standards and every child must have an opportunity to learn, and we have to put the resources under them so they can get there. Improving education in this country is about creating a classroom environment where children can learn and teachers can teach. We need to foster greater connection between students, teachers and parents, and the gentleman has worked on that. The gentleman has been a leader in it.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I trust I will be joined by some of my colleagues before the evening is over with to talk on the issue, but as my colleague, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. McInnis) was talking about a moment ago on Social Security, I would remind our colleagues and those who are listening this evening that Social Security has been with us now since the 1930s. There have been those who have talked about its demise ever since and some who have tried to make sure it was not here, but I would remind them as we talk about all of the gimmicks, anytime we take money out of the system, if it is 2 percent or 3 percent or whatever the percent we take out, that is less money we have for those who are drawing. It means that we will meet that date of finality he was talking about, and it will run out of money sooner. Mr. Speaker, I was home this weekend and had an occasion to see a movie. The gentleman from Colorado (Mr. McInnis) talked about the turmoil and all the tough times as if it were a turmoil, and that reminds me of a movie I saw called the Perfect Storm. When these fishermen went out to catch their final catch and they made the fatal decision to head into a storm without really having all the facts, if you have not seen the movie, the Perfect Storm, I will not give away all the plot. I would say to my colleagues, just like dealing with Social Security, anything else, we better know where we are headed because the Perfect Storm was a total disaster, one of the worst in our history. Mr. Speaker, this evening I want to talk about investing in our future. As the former chief of my State schools, I want to talk this evening about a critical issue facing our Nation, and that is the education of our children, and the buildings in which we put them as well, because it is about investing these dollars that Congress is talking about now that we have or we may have over the next 10 years. Before we get too far along this road of making some decisions on tax relief, at a time when we better be investing in the next generation, there is no question that we can have targeted relief; but we better be making the investment in our young people. Mr. Speaker, all too often in this town we hear politicians making speeches about how the schools are supposedly no good, how they ought to have competition, how it is really in the private sector that things are really happening, it is really not in the public sector. I am here this evening to tell my colleagues that I am one of those who will defend the public schools as the best opportunity for excellence in education for all children, and we need to stand up and be counted and spread the good news about those quiet successes, those stories that are happening in communities all across this country that are not being told. Too many times we like to talk about problems. It is easy to talk about negatives; people will listen. This morning I had the opportunity in my district to visit one of those success stories, and I would say that any Member serving in this body can find a success story in their district any time they want to find it. We can always find the glass half empty. The question is, do we really want to find it half full? Education, and public education is that great leveler in society that helps people have an opportunity to move up. As I said, I visited one of those successes this morning; and I am honored to have an opportunity this evening to brag a little bit on those students, and those teachers, on those teachers' assistants, an outstanding principal, and an awful lot of people that contributed to the success of a bunch of children. This morning I visited Harnett Primary School in Dunn, North Carolina, to participate in a teacher appreciation day that was put on by the local PTO and business people in that community. I can say I was amazed at the success that principal Linda Turlington had with her wonderful faculty staff and students, but I probably would not be totally honest, because I know them. They are outstanding people and they work hard; but I think if they were here this evening talking with my colleagues and others, what they would say is they represent millions of teachers and staff who go in to an awful lot of nice schools, some not so nice schools, and some buildings that children ought not to even be in, because of the condition they are in; and they work hard every day and go home in the evenings and prepare for the next day to help children meet the challenges of the 21st century. Let me talk for just a minute, if I may, about Principal Linda Turlington and about her wonderful staff and her faculty and all of those students. Just 4 years ago, 4 short years ago, they had a performance that they were not happy with. Only about 50 percent of her students, or their students, were performing at what is called grade level on the North Carolina end-of-grade test. They decided that was not acceptable; they could do a better job with their children if they worked together. And I spoke to them about that this morning, because it is fine to have one outstanding teacher, one outstanding principal; but it is what we have to have as everyone working together as a team to make a difference. We can have a great athletic team, and we can have a superstar; but if all we have is one superstar, they may make a difference in some games. They will not win all the games. We have to be a team. So they started to work. They started identifying students. They started making sure their curriculum was rich, it was strong, that they were helping every children achieve. So last year they went from 50 percent to raise that level or the year before last, last year, almost 80 percent of their children, 77.4 percent, had reached grade level. This morning they were saying that is not good enough. They are working for all their children; that is real progress. It is the kind of improvement we ought to go about making in every community, in every county, in every State across the country; and we can do it. But we can only do it when we talk about the successes and help people achieve the best they can achieve. We cannot do it when we always talk about all the problems that run people down. This did not happen by accident. It took dedication, hard work on the part of teachers implementing the best practices they could get, not only in their school, but in their system, pulling down the best ideas all across the State and across the country. They practiced the things they learned, and they shared it on a collective basis; and they brought in some of the best minds to work with them. Everyone was committed and focused on achieving and sharing the goals of one thing, to improve student achievement. Now, did this school achieve all of these great successes because they had the best students in the county system? The answer is no. They had outstanding students. Every school does. Remember, this is the same school that only had 50 percent 4 years before. What was different? It was certainly attitude on the part of the teachers, and everyone on that staff. And it was also the attitude on the part of parents and students who said we can do better, and we will do better. I am so proud that this school has achieved the exemplary status for the people in Dunn and for Harnett Primary. But I say to my colleagues this evening that rather than bad-mouthing our public schools, like many politicians in this town do, Congress needs to support the sincere effort under way on the ground. As we work to improve our schools for all of our children, every child, whether they come from a background of parents who have resources to help them, or whether they come from parents who want their children to do well but just do not have those resources, every parent in the 8 years I served as superintendent, I never met a parent who did not want or desire for their children to have a good education. They may not have known how to get there, but they wanted it for them. Mr. Speaker, we have that challenge today, we have it next week, and we will have it next year. Certainly Congress has no business, in my opinion, trying to be a national school board. That is not our charge nor our responsibility. It is a state-funded responsibility and local delivery of education, but there is no reason that Congress should not, cannot, and ought not to put resources in to help those young people in those schools and areas where they are not achieving, where they should be achieving. We made that decision years ago, and the Federal funding for education has slipped since the 1960s. We went through a period where we saw it drop, and now it is coming back, and we need to continue that push. It is so important. The 21st century, in my opinion, will be a century that will belong to the educated. Let me repeat that again: The 21st century will belong to the educated. There was a time when you could get a job if you dropped out of school. Those days are fast disappearing. We spend a lot of time in this town arguing back and forth about appropriations, budgets, et cetera, et cetera, but what gets lost too often in all the sound and fury of legislative debate is the central meaning of the choices we make. The choices we make are about our priorities. They also say something about our character, what we care about. Where we put our resources, or our money, if you please, tells people what is important to us. If you go into a town and you see a nice school building where the parents and the community are invested and involved in, it says education is important in that town. I happen to believe if you go into a town with a rundown building, children recognize very quickly, that is not the most important priority on the part of the people in that town. If the businesses are in order, it says that business is important. I think you can have a partnership of all. The budget and spending choices we make here define what our priorities are. As I said earlier, they truly express our values. I would say to you that many of my colleagues in the Democratic Caucus and I have been working all year to try to give greater priority to education in this budget process. Why education? As I said earlier, because education is the key to the future for every child, every child, no matter what their ethnic or economic background may happen to be. You deny a child an educational opportunity and you have denied a future family an opportunity to prepare and invest in the next generation. It is as simple as that. Certainly we value education, and we value it because we know that lifetime learning is the key to the American dream and today it is that ultimate ticket to the middle class. Everyone wants to get there. Whether a child is born into poverty today, if they get an education, they can be in the middle class tomorrow. But if we deny them an educational opportunity, they are relegated to poverty and so are their future children. We talk about the global economy and America's international competitiveness. Certainly we are in a global economy. What happens on the other side of the world, through telecommunications we know about it now almost instantaneously. But it also means that what happens on the other side of the globe economically impacts us, and we are going to have to deal with them educationally, and our ability to have a knowledge-based job economy is important. That does not mean agriculture will not be important in the future. Certainly it will be. It will continue to be. I grew up on a farm in my home State. As I tell my colleagues from time to time, I grew up on what we call a small family farm. I knew what it was to get up at 3 o'clock in the morning and take out tobacco and prime tobacco all day. But those jobs have changed. Those small farms are much larger today when we talk about family farms. Where I grew up on a 50-75 acre farm, now when you talk about a farm, the farmer is talking about hundreds of acres. It has changed. Technologically it has changed. The equipment you use is different. It means that even the farmers have to be better educated to compete today. They have to know financing, they have to have computers. Their equipment is driven technologically. The combines, the tractors, all of those are the same thing, just like the factories, are computer driven. That is why children need to have technology in the classroom and teachers need to have it so they can teach it and integrate it in the curriculum. So in this new economy of this information age, what people can earn will certainly depend on what they have learned. We see that each and every day. We see more young people today becoming millionaires on the dot-com, but, in the end, we have to make something. They are speeding up the process. It comes back again to what I started talking about, Mr. Speaker. It is about education. It is about access so everyone has a chance at this table. I used to tell folks when I was superintendent, this thing we call public education in America is one of the great opportunities in the world. It is one of the few places in the world that I know of that every child, no matter what their ethnic or economic background may happen to be, they can step up to the great smorgasbord, and, if they are willing to work and learn, they can go as far as their ability will carry them. We have opened that door of opportunity. We ought to keep it open, and we need to swing it open even wider, right on beyond high school, because today just having 12 years or 13 years is just not adequate. We are going to need 2 and even 4 or more years beyond high school as we move into this 21st century. So we have been trying here in Congress to get this Congress to give higher priority to strengthen our neighborhood schools and demonstrate how much we value education for our children. Yes, it takes resources, yes, that is money. When you have children who have special needs, they will be contributing members of society if we give them an opportunity to get an education. Yes, those children who have been deprived early will do better if we open the doors and give them pre-kindergarten and special care early on. They will be contributing members and they can make a difference in society and be good students in school. But a child who starts school behind, I am here to tell you, will have a tough time, and many of them may never catch up. That is why Head Start is important for every child who needs it. There are those who would tell you, well, we cannot do it. We cannot afford it. Can we afford not to? Can we afford to have losers? I don't think so. I think we are a big enough society, we are a big enough country, we have the resources to do all those things if we do it. But, unfortunately, the House Republican leadership has said that we need a lot of other things first. I happen to believe that we need targeted tax cuts. But everything I read lately tells me that what we decided, last year we had almost $800 billion. This time we are talking about doing it in pieces so we will have more and we want to starve them so they will not have the resources. I grew up on a farm and one of the things I never forgot that my dad told me, he said, ``Son, don't feed the seed corn. Use your best corn to replant it so next year you can have a good harvest.'' What this majority wants to do is eat the seed corn so that our next generation will not have the opportunities, and that is wrong. We need to make the kind of educational investments so that we can make our schools world class, so we can have high quality curriculum for every child in every classroom. And, yes, we ought to hold them accountable. We ought to have high standards, because, just as I told you at the outset earlier today, the school in Dunn, North Carolina, Harnett Primary School, is holding their children accountable, holding their parents accountable, holding themselves accountable, setting high standards, and those students are reaching it. I certainly oppose these misguided priorities. We ought to invest in education, we ought to hold the system accountable, and we ought to get it done. I am pleased at this time to yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt) to discuss more about our priorities in education. He certainly has been a leader in the whole area of education, but he has focused his attention on science education. He is one of the true scientists here in Congress and brings a lot to the table.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time on that point, for our colleagues I hope they remember that that is H.R. 996, and, so they do not misunderstand, as the gentleman has indicated, all this does is pay the interest through a tax credit. It would allow the States and local jurisdictions to build the schools, to issue the bonds, but they would pay the principal only and no interest. It is a way to help the local units not only build the new buildings they need, and we have 53 million students coming into our public schools, the largest number in the history of America, but it will also allow them to renovate and provide for the technology that they so sorely need. I thank the gentleman for being such a strong proponent of this and being one of the earliest signers on this legislation with me, and trust before this Congress adjourns, that the Republicans will agree to bring this out of the committee, put it on the floor and let us vote it and help the schools.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I commend the gentleman for those important comments. I particularly agree with the gentleman on the issue of school construction that is so badly needed, not only in those growth areas but in a lot of our urban areas where children are going, as the gentleman said, trailers and substandard buildings that we would not operate a business out of. I used to go to civic clubs, and still do, and say to the folks, if they really think rundown buildings are good then why do they not invite the next business who comes to town and wants to expand, take them down to the old warehouse front and ask them to put their business in there and just say to them it is the buildings; it does not make that much difference. It is the people that are put in there, and see if they come back and open their factory in their town. They will not come back. I think the children deserve a quality place to go to school and teachers need a good place to learn.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. That is correct.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, today I pay tribute to the life and career of Mr. George Donald O'Quinn. Two weeks ago, Mr. O'Quinn retired as Principal of Boone Trail Elementary School after 38 years of committed and dedicated service. Mr. O'Quinn has never asked for a medal or a monument; he has only hoped for the success of his students, his school, and his community. It is fitting then that today we honor the accomplishments of this humble public servant. Mr. O'Quinn was born in 1937 and raised in the community he so proudly served. In fact, he attended the same school that he would later capably lead for so many years. After earning his Bachelors of Science degree in Agriculture from North Carolina State University in 1961, Mr. O'Quinn began teaching at Coats High School, in Dunn, NC. Over the next five years, he taught at Lillington High School and worked at Southern National Bank as that institution's vice president. Fortunately for the people of Lillington, Mr. O'Quinn returned to the classroom in 1972. After four years of teaching Vocational Education at Boone Trail, he was named Principal, a position he would hold for the next 27 years. It is also important to note that Mr. O'Quinn was engaged in the affairs of his community. He served and held leadership positions in numerous organizations, including the Harnett County Community Development Association, the North Carolina Farm Bureau, the Boone Trail and National Ruritan Club, and the Lillington Jaycees. Mr. O'Quinn also served as a Deacon and Sunday School Teacher at Anitoch Baptist Church. On top of his community activities, he was also able to raise a beautiful family with the able assistance of his wife Elaine. Mr. Speaker, Donald O'Quinn's love for his community, his school, the children he mentored, and his family is truly remarkable. Tonight I praise him for nurturing so many children, embodying the spirit of his community, and sharing his gifts with us all.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to take a moment to recognize one of my constituents, Mr. M.T. Phelps, who will be turning 100 years old next month. Born on August 9, 1900 in the hills of Columbus, Georgia, Mr. Phelps has lived exactly the sort of simple, yet exceptional life that most of us desire. Mr. Phelps met his future wife, Allene Rickman, at church as a young man and soon married her on March 12, 1927. After working several years in the sunshine of Florida, Mr. Phelps moved to my district in 1933 when he came to Lillington to take a position as Superintendent of Rickman Brick. Mr. and Mrs. Phelps were soon blessed with the births of three lovely children, Mary Ann, Marion ``Rick'' and Emily Francis, whom they supported in all their academic and athletic endeavors. Throughout it all, Mr. Phelps not only successfully fulfilled his role as an outstanding husband and father, but also as a diligent and dedicated worker at the Rickman Brick company, Womble's General Store, and finally O'Quinn and O'Quinn's Funeral Home. In fact, Mr. Phelps remained at O'Quinn's until his much-deserved retirement at the ripe old age of 85. In addition to his numerous responsibilities at home and in the workplace, Mr. Phelps has also discovered time for himself and his community. In an ideal example of civic-minded selflessness, Mr. Phelps for years has allowed the local Kiwanis organization to use his home as the site for their annual Halloween haunted house. Mr. Phelps has been a Mason since the 1930s and was a supporter of the old Lillington High School Booster Club. Finally, Mr. Phelps, as a conservationist, has always loved nature and enjoyed the simple pleasures associated with the land. His reputation as a hunter and a trainer of good hunting dogs has preceded him throughout our community. Although we are marking the occasion of his 100th birthday tonight, this is a tribute we could provide Mr. Phelps on any day. I am truly privileged to represent people like M.T. Phelps in this United States Congress. M.T. Phelps is a good worker, a good husband, a good father, a good citizen, and, above all, a good man.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4658, a bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 301 Green Street in Fayetteville, North Carolina, as the J.L. Dawkins Post Office Building. I appreciate the opportunity to remember Mr. Dawkins' life and legacy. Today we pay tribute to a remarkable public servant and family man Mayor J.L. Dawkins. Fayetteville's ``Mayor for Life'' was born in 1935 and lived almost his entire life in and around the city he so proudly served. In 1975, Mr. Dawkins was elected to his first term on the Fayetteville City Council. After holding this position for 12 years, Mr. Dawkins ran for and was elected Mayor in 1987 and served honorably until his passing earlier this year. Mr. Speaker, I pay tribute to J.L. Dawkins the public servant by remembering his record as Mayor and a member of the City Council, but I also remember him as a dear friend who cared about the people he served. When I visited Fayetteville schools during my tenure as State Superintendent, J.L. Dawkins was always present and engaged--because he cared. He cared about the children of Fayetteville. He cared about their well-being and their future. Mr. Dawkins also supported local law enforcement because he knew it would improve safety in Fayetteville's schools and in the community as a whole. He supported Fayetteville's law enforcement community because he cared. Mr. Dawkin's passing has left a great void in the Fayetteville community. Despite our sorrow and loss, we have the opportunity today to celebrate the life and legacy of an exemplary public servant. It is fitting then that we honor him today by naming a post office for J.L. Dawkins in Fayetteville. Mr. Dawkins cared deeply for his city, the constituents he served, and most importantly his family. H.R. 4658 ensures that Mr. Dawkins will forever be remembered for these traits. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to unanimously support this legislation.

Mr. ETHERIDGE

Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, that is an important point as we deal with it. I think we need to keep in mind and remind our colleagues that it really is called, not just H1-B visa, working at the top, but it is called for a need for investment at every level. For instance, on the 100,000 teachers we are talking about that Congress has been engaged in, and we are still fighting the battle to get this year to reduce class sizes for children in the kindergarten and third grade level. That is where we create and get young people interested in the sciences and the mathematics, to create those scientists 8, 10 years from now. The only way we are going to do it is engage them early. Since the gentlewoman from North Carolina raised that issue, let me just share with her some examples, because many times people, some of our colleagues on the other side want to jump on partisan politics and talk about how bad the public schools and what they are not doing. Let me just share with my colleagues the student mathematic achievement is improving. That takes a while. It takes an overall commitment and sustained investment over time. Between 1982 and 1996, student improvements have improved their achievement on mathematics by the National Assessment of Education Progress. But the problem we have is, even though the improvement is there, we still need to have more. If we reduce those class sizes at the early grades where we can really excite a young person in mathematics, and they can see where it leads to, the ones who really we are losing are those in the point the gentlewoman made on the digital divide earlier, they are in those schools that do not have the resources to get them engaged. If no one engages those young people early, it is amazing. My colleagues have been in the classroom as I have, all of you have, it is amazing what one sees in the eyes of those students. Once one sees it in their eyes, one sees exciting things happen. And down the road, all of a sudden the youngster decides I want to be an engineer, and maybe there has never been an engineer in their family. But that is how we turn it around. We are probably always going to bring in some of the best from around the world; but we should not, I agree with the gentlewoman, we should not leave the gap open for all the people.

Mr. ETHERIDGE. I thank my friend from Maryland. I thank him for joining in this special order this evening. In closing, I would say that our communities need help in not only building quality public schools that have good discipline and foster positive learning environments for our children, they need resources for teachers to make sure we have reduced class sizes and the tools in it. The final point I would make, having served last year on the Speaker's Bipartisan Working Group on Youth Violence, we came out of that talking about some of the things we could do to help make a difference. One of the reports that came out of that was character education. We put in a bipartisan bill on that now, to talk about those things we can do, schools can do, parents can do, communities could do, to make a difference in our school. I think nothing is more important in our Nation for the public wealth than for the training of youth in wisdom and virtue. Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. That is not unique. That was said by Ben Franklin. It is still true today, as much as it was over 200 years ago. That is important. Finally, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues for joining me this evening, and would like to call on this Congress to truly make education its highest priority this year, as we turn the corner on the 21st Century.