"This Republican Congress will focus on the needs of America’s families. Our nation is enjoying a tremendous period of growth and opportunity. We now have the lowest unemployment rate in a generation. House Republicans will work to bring continued prosperity to the nation. We will bring security to families, flexibility to the workplace and fairness to all workers. We will also work hard to improve schools. We will send federal dollars directly to the classroom; push for quality teaching; bolster basic academics; and foster parental involvement.

"Our agenda will put children, families, workers, teachers and businesses first - not Washington bureaucrats. Last year we passed a measure to help Americans who lack health insurance gain the coverage they need. Our employer-based system of health care coverage has allowed Americans to enjoy access to the most advanced medical care in the world. However, there are too many Americans who don’t have access to affordable care. This is wrong. House Republicans understand that the most important patient protection is affordable health coverage. Last Congress, our bill included provisions to expand health coverage, including a measure from my committee to help small business employees and the self-employed to enjoy the same types of coverage reserved under current law only for large businesses.

"To ensure the state of the union remains strong our highest priority must be improving our nation’s education system for the 21^st  Century. I applaud the President’s focus on this important issue. I hope that he will work with Congress to develop a new path toward improving our nation’s schools and ensuring that each and every child receives a world-class education.

"Tonight, however, President Clinton rolled out a long list of proposals similar to the same types of federal programs already on the books. For six years now, we have watched President Clinton address the American people with promises of new federal programs, initiatives, studies and regulations. While these proposals may make for good stories in the morning paper, there are already more than 800 federal education programs spread across 39 federal agencies. Bureaucrats in Washington administer these programs, hundreds to thousands of miles from the children and the schools that need help. If new federal education programs were the answer to improving our schools, we would already have the best education system in the world.

"We will scrutinize President Clinton’s new education proposals to make sure they do four things:

Will they send more federal dollars to the classroom?

Will they foster education excellence?

Will these programs increase parental involvement in education?

And, will they respect state and local education authority?

Americans want those common sense education ideas - not more regulations, nor federal tests, nor unfunded mandates, nor duplicative programs.

"Last Congress, House Republicans passed more significant education reform bills than anytime in recent history. In all of our efforts we took a new path. Rather than focus on the growing bureaucracy, we looked at the issues that make a difference in homes, schools and communities across the country. We stressed basic academics and quality, and we moved away from the ‘bigger is better’ mentality inside the Beltway. We placed the highest emphasis on parental involvement, giving parents new tools such as education savings accounts to help them provide the best possible education for their children. We consolidated programs and sent dollars directly to the classroom, putting our resources where they are needed most.

"This year, we have the opportunity to do even more. We will take up the most sweeping federal education program, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which directly affects areas of concern to all parents: quality teachers in the classroom, delivery of federal education dollars, drug free schools and technology.

"I have the following priorities for America’s children, families and workers:

Health Care: "America has the best health care system in the world. Republicans want to make health coverage more accessible, affordable and portable by making the market more competitive. Republicans believe that promoting choice and competition are the best ways to protect consumers and keep health care affordable. We passed a comprehensive health care bill in the House last year and I remain a strong supporter of that legislation. I am especially proud of the work we did to make coverage more affordable for the 42 million uninsured Americans."

Support for Public Schools & Local Control: "We will look to quickly move an ‘ed flex’ bill that will cut burdensome federal education regulations and provide more flexibility to states and school districts. Washington doesn’t know best and Congress shouldn’t serve as a national school board."

Dollars to the Classroom: "The 106th Congress will send more federal dollars directly to the classroom. The House in the 105th Congress passed the Dollars to the Classroom Act, which would have consolidated 31 federal education programs totaling $2.7 billion and would have sent their dollars directly to local schools. By reducing bureaucracy and opening funds for these 31 narrow, tightly restricted grant programs, the act would have sent an additional $800 million to the nation’s classrooms."

Quality Teaching: "Nothing matters more in the classroom than having a competent, well-trained teacher. This year, Congress will move forward to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. During the ESEA debate, we will look at ways to direct federal dollars toward creating better teaching training programs. We will also look closely at President Clinton’s 100,000 new teacher proposal to determine whether it is creating quality in the classroom. Not every school district wants to hire new teachers or commit their budgets to what may someday be an unfunded federal mandate."

Education Savings Accounts: "Last year, President Clinton unfortunately vetoed a bill that would have helped parents save for education. Congressional Republicans will again push this bill, and while this legislation belongs to the Ways and Means Committee, I will help Chairman Archer in any way I can to get this bill passed and signed into law."

Special Education Funding: "Look for Congressional Republicans to again boost federal special education funding to meet the federal government’s long-delayed promise of full funding. Last year - despite the President’s attempt to cut funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act - Congressional Republicans worked hard to see that an additional $510 million was appropriated for this unfunded mandate -- IDEA."

School Safety and Discipline: "We will do whatever we can to support local schools in their efforts to make their schools safe, drug-free and orderly. We will do this by working on new juvenile justice bills and by making needed reforms to after-school programs and the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program."

Child Care: "I brought a resolution to the floor last year indicating that any assistance for child care must include stay-at-home parents. This legislation passed in a unanimous and bipartisan fashion, 409-0. The President’s proposal targeting birth to age one is totally unacceptable. I want to do everything I can to help the mother or father be at the bus stop when their kindergartner or first grader leaves in the morning and comes home in the afternoon."

After-School Programs: "After-school care, like the issue of child care in general, is something we will carefully examine in the months ahead. Children need to be cared for in the best possible manner wherever they are: at school, in the home or in a child care setting. After-school programs that have a real education component are valuable. However, the federal government should not fund programs that amount to nothing more than federalized daycare or babysitting services."

Accountability in Public Schools: "After six years of trying to get the president to talk about the need to bring quality into existing federal education programs -- rather than just talk of spending more money to cover children with mediocrity -- I am pleased to see that he has started to stress accountability in existing programs."

Ending Social Promotion: "Republicans have long opposed the use of social promotion in public schools. As the President has recognized, this practice essentially writes off children and lowers the level of achievement we expect from our students. However, we must guard against the federal government setting arbitrary standards to be imposed on local schools."

Education Standards and Testing: "The best standards and tests are those that are developed at the state and local levels. Congress spoke with a clear voice last session and prohibited implementation, pilot testing and field testing of any federal tests this fiscal year. We already have plenty of testing. If more federal testing were the answer, we would have solved the problems in our schools a long time ago."

Cuts in College Loans: "I am very disturbed by President Clinton’s plans for cuts in the student loan program. His proposal comes less than one year after Congress passed the Higher Education Act making college more affordable and accessible for all qualified students. In fact, an overwhelming bipartisan majority of Congress voted to provide students with the lowest student loan interest rate in 17 years. If the President’s cuts were to go into effect, students could be left without access to private guaranteed student loans."

Continue Welfare Reform Success: "Republican welfare reform has been a tremendous success by every measure, restoring dignity and hope to millions of lives. The highest priority continues to be moving every capable adult from the welfare rolls into productive roles in our nation’s workforce. The President’s proposal ignores the fact that there are more than $7 billion available to the states for welfare to work activities."

Family Security: "We want to give families security and flexibility in the changing workplace. Common sense reforms such as the comp time legislation allow families the flexibility to deal with child care, health concerns and unanticipated events. Republicans want to let workers earn paid time off when they work overtime."

Retirement Security: "We are glad to have the President follow the lead that Republicans have taken to simplify pensions and expand pension coverage. We want to help workers save for a secure retirement by promoting private sector investments, innovative retirement savings accounts and pension reform."

Civil Rights: "The Clinton administration recently announced a civil rights proposal that appeared to ignore the substantial funding increases for civil rights enforcement passed by the Republican 105th Congress. In fact, the Republican Congress has already given the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the nation’s leading civil rights enforcement agency, enough money to meet the administration’s enforcement goals for 2000."

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