Date: 2006-02-08
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

I want to jump off from what you are saying in terms of America lagging behind global education standards with more emblematic examples of the difference between their rhetoric and their deeds. . The President. again in the State of the Union. talked about our one commitment being necessary above all in that we must continue to lead the -world in human talent. and creativity. Our greatest advantage in the world. he says. has always been our educated. hardworking. ambitious people and we are going to keep that edge. That evening he announced what he calls the American Competitiveness Initiative to encourage innovation throughout our economy and to give our Nations children a firm groundiig in math and science. He proposed doubling the Federal commitment to the most critical basic research programs and the physical sciences over the next 10 years and a number of other really lofty goals. Let us match the rhetoric with the reality. Republicans have consistently. consistently failed to even come close to matching the rhetoric that the President laid out in the State of the Union in their deeds and actions in terms of making those words reality. Last year. Republicans provided less than onethird of the promised investment in the Math and Science Partnerships program. which is designed to increase student academic achievement in grades K through 1.2 in math and science. They have shortchanged the Tech Talent Act. which strengthens postsecondary education to increase the number of degrees in math. science. and engineering. by nearly 33 percent. This comes at a time when only 36 percent of fourth graders and 30 percent of eighth graders tested proficient in math. but our twelfth graders scored at or near the bottom of math and-. science compared to other countries. 0] 2300 We could listen to the President say it until he is blue in the face. but until the Republican leadership here ind the Members of Congress match what the President is saying with their votes. until he proposes a budget that actually reflects what his words said in the State of the Union. why should people believe them? They should not. They should not believe them because this is another example of how a pervasive culture of corruption and cronyism permeates itself all the way through the process and results in the reality on the ground in a budget that does the exact opposite in. terms of producing the competitive talent that. the President talked about in the State of the Union. because that cannot happen if you are slashing and burning the programs that accomplish that. The American people are not stupid. They understand the difference between saying it and doing it. When I have -traveled across the country. I hear from people that want to believe the things that their politicians tell them. They want to believe in us. and their confidence in this body. in Congress. in the government is so badly shaken by everything that has gone on through the culture of corruption that has gone on here. It has shaken the confidence that people have in this institution to its foundation. We have to do something about it. We have an opportunity to do something about it later this year. I hope that in my second term that I hope to serve in this Congress that things will change.