Date: 1998-06-24
Speaker: BOB SCHAFFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

Mr. Speaker. first of all tonight. Wednesday night. is one of the nights that is a traditional night for the freshman class on the Republican side to take to the floor. I. being the President of the class. reserve the hour for Members. so I would like to extend an invitation to anyone who might be monitoring tonights proceedings. whether you are Republican freshman or any other member of the conference. to come on down if you have any items you would care to discuss tonight and any issues that you would care to raise this evening. The invitation is open for at least another hour. Let me say though tonight one of the things that I intend to speak about and some others who suggested they may be here to join us is the topic of obtaining constituent input from the people that we represent back home. Now many of us travel throughout our districts and hold a number of town meetings. and it was this topic that we were discussing just this afternoon at a freshman meeting. A couple of my colleagues were discussing some of the comments that they had received at recent town hall meetings. and it kind of occurred to us that many people really do not believe that Members of Congress listen. that Members of Congress are willing to take the time to listen to constituents. to any of the messages that come up at town meetings and other public forums and so on. that they are acted upon. I thought it might be a good idea to discuss how many of those conversations are in fact discussed and carried on in other meetings that we have here. as was the case of the meeting this afternoon. I hold a number of town meetings throughout my district in Colorado. My district is 21 counties large. It is the entire eastern half of the state. and generally all the Great Plains on the eastern side of Colorado. It is a district that is a little bit larger than the State of Indiana. In order to cover a lot of territory in that district. we do hold a lot of town meetings. We do hold a lot of gatherings at coffee shops. at restaurants. at city hall meetings. at schools. all kinds much places. Recently I also conducted a wheat tour with the Colorado Association of Wheat Growers. and many of the wheat growers out on the Eastern Plains. The Colorado Wheat Administrative Committee was the other organization that helped organize that event. We went through three different towns on that wheat tour. We went through Kiowa County on the Eastern Plains. we went through Cheyenne radio. spend a lot of time in their farm County and we also went through Kit vehicles or traveling the great disCarson County. looking at wheat tances they have to go to get from one farms. town to another. so callin shows on This is a very challenging time right radio stations is a great way to reach now for wheat growers. One. many of people. and I received several comthese farms are dry land farms. and ments about that. their wheat fields are not irrigated. so People have brought up the topics of they are heavily reliant upon suitable Social Security. They wanted to see weather conditions. It was a pretty their Congress find some way to try to good year so far to get the crop planted rescue the Social Security System. and and to get a good start on this years particularly address the declining rewheat crop. The wheat crop looked turns that we have realized in the Sopretty good. But farmers were con- cial Security Trust Fund. cerned about a.number of issues. They always seem to bring up the One is getting enough moisture to issue of tax policy and trying to find put a good finish on the wheat harvest. ways to reduce the effective tax rates Even though the crop is expected to be on the American people. pretty suitable this year. the bigger One of the things I also do back home issue is wheat prices. Right now farm- in my district is I publish my home ers are looking at $2.40. maybe as low phone number. and do that pretty freas $2.25. $2.35 a bushel on wheat costs. quently. A lot of people do call me at There is an estimated 40 percent carry- home. which is okay. I think when you over in wheat surpluses from last year. run for office. that you should not give So the farmers that I spoke with were up your neighbor status by any means. concerned about making sure that Con- So I take a lot of phone calls at home. gress put sufficient resources into ef- A lot of times I am here in Washington. forts to expand export markets over- but I take those messages off of the anseas. swering service. When I am there. we I am delighted to say that as a result get to answer the phone and talk to a of those conversations and the message lot of people at home. So I encourage I was able to convey. along with many anyone concerned about issues taking of my other colleagues from wheat pro- place in Washington and Congress. anyducing states to the Committee on Ag- place at the Federal level. or even at a riculture and Committee on Appropria- state or local level. to get hold of those tions. that earlier today we were suc- elected officials that you have in fact cessful in putting sufficient funding have hired to represent you in Washinto the export enhancement program ington. and other exportrelated programs that Well. one of the other things that I help our farmers expand markets over- did. Mr. Speaker. just a few months seas. ago. was sent out a public opinion surThe real problem. however. has been vey with respect to the topic of eduthat the Clinton Administration has cation in the district. I received. oh. not been aggressive. I should say. has several thousand responses to that pubnot been aggressive at. all in fighting lic opinion survey. I want to go hard for our farmers overseas and try- through some of those today. ing to expand markets where opportu- I am going to respect the anonymity nities exist. In fact. because of many of those who have written. because. official policies of the administration. with the exception of a few. these folks wheat producers are shut out of about did not intend for their names to be 11 percent of the export markets in mentioned before the whole Congress. other countries. and they are thinking But I do know that they feel very pasabdut that pretty frequently these sionately about some of these topics days as they are looking at low wheat that they have written about. I want to prices and willing purchasers through- share those with the House tonight and out the .world that we just need to with colleagues. and also suggest if reach. - others have constituent letters or conWhat I want to share with those folks stituent concerns that they have been that I met on that particular tour and hearing from back home. tonight would that particular series of town meetings be a good night to join me on the floor is that I did listen. and there are many and let folks know we are listening and other of my colleagues here in Con- responding and that we are letting peogress that have heard similar pleas ple know back home that we are carryfrom the other farmers and growers ing their message forward for them. throughout the rest of the West and Here is one. again. on this education the rest of the country who have joined survey. It says. "We live in Fort Colme and been fighting very hard here in lins and send our children to a private Congress to expand export markets and school in Fort Collins." It says. "Pubtrying to increase the prices of com- lic school is not an option for us. I am modities. and to do this within the con- an attorney here and my husband. a text of a thriving free market. microbiologist. We moved here four I also do a number of other types of years ago from Silver Spring. Maryvisits. I do a number of radio callin land. Our children were in private shows throughout my district. Again. school there as well. I think that it is being a rural district. many of the peo- appalling what the NEA." which is the ple on the Eastern Plains of Colorado National Education Association. "the listen routinely to talk radio shows. Teachers Union and the Department of They get a lot of information over the Education. have done to public schools. I saw the article recently regarding the amount of money spent per capita on children in the District of Columbia school system. It absolutely amazing. I can still remember driving to my office at 13th and K." not too far from here. "when we lived there. and see the rundown schools and kids on the street. I appreciate your efforts and the efforts of your staff. We will continue to support you." These are folks from Fort Collins. Here are some other comments. This one was a particularly interesting one. Again. all these first few are on the topic of education. "Dear Congressman SCHAFFER. I would like to comment on your opinion survey. I would like to see money spent on - education concentrated in the following areas. One. classroom basics. especially reading programs at all levels and for all needed learning styles of the individual student. If a student cannot read. they will never be successful. If assistance dollars are continued. 75 percent should be targeted toward. the average working poor. It is the middle income taxpayer who supplies the money. They seldom are able to help their own children." This writer. a woman. goes on to say. the third priority. she strongly. supports increases in vocational andtedhnology programs in junior high school and in high school as well as in two year community colleges. "We are forgetting the constant losses of skilled tradespersons. plumbers. educators. electricians. auto repair. carpenters. seamstresses. et cetera. chefs. appliance repair. et cetera." This person did not excel at penmanship here apparently. A "good reasonably priced washer repairman is hard to find. but continued support of welfare moms is still in place. Thank you for your time and interest." That is another person from Fort Collins. Colorado. Here is one individual who sent a ratings list of what tuition costs in private schools in the area. and just wrote a brief note. "Congressman Schaffer. this is what we are paying for our sons schooling. Vouchers would be a great help. For one child to spend an entire year in a private school costs $2.375." This is in Loveland. Colorado. and this individual makes some other notations as to why it costs almost $6.000 per pupil at a public school. and it seems reasonable to this writer that individuals ought to be able to have an opportunity to take an education voucher and purchase a high quality education service at a lower cost when it is certainly available. Here is an interesting one. It says.. lets see. "I am retired from the Poudre School District." a school district in my hometown of Fort Collins. the district that my children currently attend. "I am retired from the Poudre School District with 33 years experience in the classroom. I am not impressed with what goes on in schools today. Of course. kids can use a computer and do math with a calculator. but those I tutor are lacking in good old multiplication. facts and so on. They dont have the mechanics. Their geography and history is missing. They can fly to Hawaii. but they cant locate it on the globe. I am disturbed when a 9th grader cant write a paragraph. let alone spell the word he uses. The trouble as I. a 90yearold see it. is teachers today are the generation that were cheated by the system in the first -place. So now what can we expect when teachers do not have the oldfashioned foundation I had? It is true. I am a life member of the NEA." again. the National Education Association. or the teachers union. "I thought the NEA would make me a better teacher. How naive I was. Their periodicals still arrive with little about better teaching methods. but much about teachers rights. raises and salaries. more benefits. plus reports on cases of fired teachers and their legal problems. I am convinced NEAs money helped a great deal in electing Clinton in 1992. Teachers paid their union dues to elect that man. Thanks for listening. I hope the bill passes." The bill she was speaking of was a piece of legislation that just came out of the Education Committee today that deals with trying to get more dollars to the classroom. and she makes a notation that too much of our education money is spent on administration. I would like to let the woman know and others who are of a similar opinion that the House Committee on Education and the Workforce did in fact today act on that very issue. a measure designed to try to direct more of the money that is currently being spent to the classroom. You see. today anywhere from 40 to 60 percent of the education dollars spent by the Federal Government is estimated to be soaked up by various administrative costs and other bureaucratic expenses associated with the United States Department of Education. sometimes the state administrations in various states. sometimes local communities as well. But we are making a very conscious and very bold effort here in Congress to try to direct those dollars to the classroom. Unfortunately. Mr. Speaker. this has become a partisan issue. That bill passed primarily with Republican votes. In fact. I am not certain that there was a single Democrat vote for moving more dollars to the classroom. I am hopeful that by the time that measure comes to the floor. that we will see more folks on the left side of the aisle to join us on the Republican side in trying to make sure that the dollars that we spend actually help children and not help increase the comfort level of bureaucrats. Here is another person who wrote in their opinion survey. it says. "This opinion survey is a great idea." It says. "Get the Federal Government out of our local schools. do away with tenure. give merit raises and give reviews for teachers regarding the ability to teach." This person thinks it is important for us to go back to the basics and teach our children skills. not how to feel. This woman wrote all over the place and in the margins. She said. "We need discipline back in the schools. We are pouring in more money now than ever. and we still have to fork over so much more money just to get kids registered. There is nothing provided. and the kids arent learning anything. I am sick of the Federal Government running everything as we lose more and more of our freedom." This is an individual who. just based on some. of the other notations here in the column. it is very obvious she has .some experience in education. She suggests that she cares very deeply about public education and want to see public schools thrive and succeed. and views the Federpl regulations. the Federal mandates and the Federal red tape. as being a particularly burdensome impediment to educational progress. These comments really do get at. I think. one of the dividing themes that separate the two prevailing camps of political taught with respect to the Federal involvement in public education. There is the side that believes that we ought to liberate schools and focus on the freedom to teach. to begin to treat teachers like real professionals in an environment where the truly great teachers are able to thrive and able to rise to the top. to be able to be paid on a professional basis. aid with professional style contracts that reward success. that reward performance. and do away with this whole notion that the worst teacher in the district is paid the same as the best. That happens too often. and in fact is the case in most schools today. What many of these writers have expressed is a real sense of trying to free up public education at the local level in a way that will guarantee excellence and guarantee stlccess. It is interesting. we really rally around many areas of our economy. There are many industries here in the United States that are the worlds best. that are the worlds best because they are competitive. because they define every day new heights with respect to quality. They are able to offer services and products at the lowest costs and with the greatest convenience. In America we enjoy these attention routinely. and we expect those kinds of attributes because we live in a free market society. where competitiveness is. in the end. something that is of the greatest benefit to consumers. This is something that -has been discovered throughout the world and has been proven throughout history. that free markets always work best. They work far better than a centrally controlled economy and a heavily regulated economy. If we are willing to brag about our financial markets. if we are willing to brag about the goods and services and the manufactured products that are produced * right here in the United States. if we are willing to brag about the professional services that exist. whether it is legal services. real estate services. insurance services. if we are willing to brag about these because of the level of competition. because of the high level of quality. the greatest advantages with respect to low costs. and the full amount of convenience. why is it that we are timid about applying these same characteristics to the public education system? Why is it that we find so many here on the floor of the Congress. the floor of the House. who regard competitive models for education reform as somehow being negative when it comes to reforming public schools? It does not make a lot of sense. If we cared as much about our schools as we do every other important industry in our country. every other industry that is a model of success. then we would begin to apply some of the most excellent characteristics of competition to education. as well. We are beginning to see bits and pieces of that reform effort moving across the floor. and todays event in the Committee on Education and the WorkForce was another one of those milestones. being able to pass a bill to the floor that cuts out the education bureaucracy at the Federal level and moves real authority back to the States and to the local level. Competition is another issue that the next writer writes about. This is on a different topic altogether. This is an individual that I have met down in Lamar. Colorado. a woman who runs a bus plant. There are only two original bus manufacturing facilities in the United States. one in Colorado and I think the other is in California. From this woman. we extract her fuel taxes every time she hops in a motor vehicle and drives somewhere. take those fuel taxes. send them here to Washington. D.C.. and many of those dollars are spent in mass transportation systems throughout the country. . Many of the cities and municipalities who purchase buses have an opportunity to. again. take advantage of the lowest cost. the greatest quality earnings. and the highest level of convenience. But unfortunately. there is an additional advantage to foreign competitors in the American market. This woman simply wants a level playing field when it comes to competing right here within her own country. the ability to sell buses on fair and equitable terms. Laws apply to her that do not apply to some of other foreign competitors. They do not pay workers compensation rates. unemployment insurance. They do not pay high taxes. have visits from the OSHA inspectors. the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Her competitors do not have the EPA kicking the doors down and coming in and doing spot inspections and driving up the costs of her product. Yet. when those foreign competitors bring their product across the American line. the costs of that product is far lower than what she is able to provide. What she writes about is simply demanding a level playing field. making sure that American producers are able to do well in the United States and not be faced with unfair competitive advantages for foreigners. I see the gentleman from Florida is here and joining me. and I am glad that he is here tonight. I yield to the gentleman from Florida .