Date: 1994-03-21
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman. I rise in opposition to the Roth amendment. I would like to briefly talk about the three reasons. and then like a lot of other Members on the floor relate personal experiences with bilingual education and the -need for bilingual education. First. the Roth amendment forces the States to pay the total cost. and whether in California. New York. or Texas. we are already providing substantial local and State funding for bilingual. because it does work. And th: would just require those local States t pay even more money. This is not a funding item. This is grant formula. If the city of Houston c the Houston School District does nc receive this grant. then they have t pay for it locally. This is not som4 thing that is automatically sent froi Washington to say OK. Houston. ind4 pendent school district. or L.A. Cox solidated. you have to provide it. The competitively seek these grants to he] provide this funding for the students. We need to recognize that bilingual not just teaching someone in their m tive language. It is also teaching the while they learn English. and so the are not getting further behind. like tl gentleman from New York (M SERRANO] said earlier. It is to malk sure that they also learn math. an science and history at the same tirt that they are learning English. and n( just being taught in their nati. tongue. Let me talk about an experience thE I have had in Texas. in Houston. I we raised in a majority Hispanic schao and I saw In the middle 1960s befoi there was bilingual programs in TexE what would happen in a high scho4 where a child would come in. and the would stay 2 or 3 days and then wou] drop out. And in 1973. my first term I the legislature. we actually provide State funding across the board for b lingual. I was a small amount of $6 mi lion. but it was hard to get at thE time in 1973. I realized coming and serving I Washington for my first term here I Congress that so much more is bein done on a local basis. both in loc school districts and in States for bilix gual. and recognizing it. So we do nc have those students who come ii whether they are in kindergarten c 11th grade. dropping out after the week. They actually are working I their native tongue so that they ca stay there. and they can be educate and they can be productive citizens. This last year. like a lot of Member like my colleagues from Florida. spent a lot of time in the local school in my district. since I serve on t Committee on Education and Labo And I am proud that one of my elemei tary schools has the bilingual teach( of the year. Love Elementary. in tl Houston School District. But I had a opportunity this year to both start bilingual program. a kindergarten pr( gram that was bilingual. in Septembe: and the children were really quiet an subdued. And then I went back and vil ited not that same program. but a di ferent" program in May where thoc children started in that kindergarte with a program in bilingual. but I May they are not speaking Spanis anymore. they are speaking Englisl And they are aggressive. They want t talk. and they want to talk in Englisl I was a part of the reading progran and they did not want to talk in Spar ish. they wanted to talk in Englisl Is whereas when I went In in September I .o had to read the program in Spanish. But when I went back in May they did a not want me to read in Spanish. they )r wanted it in English. because It was a t kindergarten program that started in .o Spanish. but by May they are speaking 3- English. and they want to be taught in n English. e- So you do not start in my district or i- any other district in the kindergarten !y in bilingual and continue through it .p through high school. That is not the way the system works. Children are in is bilingual for a very short period of L- time so that they do not get further ben hind while they are learning English. y Bilingual was funded on a statewide Le basis in Texas in 1973. If I had my way. r. we would fund it even more than what :6e we are doing now under the grant proLd gram. But we are not. so I ask Memie bers to join with me in opposing the t Roth amendment. because we are not re doing near enough on the Federal level to eliminate some of the education Lt problems that we have that are caused Ls by our immigration policy. Do not take 1. away what little bit we have. re 0 1540 )l Mr. KNOLLENBERG. Mr. Chairman. !y I move to strike the requisite number d of words. n Mr.- Chairman. I rise today in strong d support- of the amendments offered by I- my colleague from Wisconsin [Mr.