[Page: H10619]
---

   (Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)

   Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, today this body will be continuing consideration of H.R. 2, the Student Results Act which reauthorizes ESEA, or Title I. Title I is a vital program for elementary and secondary schools in the territories as well as the States. My district, the Virgin Islands, relies heavily on the resources it provides to educate our children.

   We in this body have a responsibility to ensure that this important measure reaches all Americans, and this includes women, people of color, the poor and those for whom English is not their first language. The bill as it exists contains much of the resources and programs our schools need, but we must give the American people the best Title I we can. That means reauthorizing the Women's Education Equity Act, keeping the poverty threshold at 50 percent, including adequate provisions for bilingual education, and saying ``no'' to vouchers.

   Our future demands full support of our public school system as the best insurance for a well-educated citizenry. With the passage of the Mink-Woolsey-Sanchez-Morella amendment, we have begun to do that. Young girls and women across America are grateful to our colleagues for this amendment. Now let us pass the Payne amendment, reject the Armey amendment and help our bilingual students.

END