May 26th, 2000
Washington, D.C. – On Friday, Congressman Ron Paul introduced his “Senior’s Legislative Agenda” in a letter to his senior constituents. The letter outlined his top priorities for the remainder of the 106th Congress. They include stopping the raid on the Social Security Trust Fund, excluding Social Security benefits from federal taxation, fixing Medicare and insuring seniors have access to affordable prescription drugs.
Paul said, “My top priority this Congress is bringing true reform to the Social Security system. That’s why the very first bill I introduced in this Congress was HR 219, the “Social Security Preservation Act.” This bill would make it illegal for any money to be spent out of the Social Security trust fund for any purpose other than paying retirement benefits.”
While the “Social Security Preservation Act” has not yet been passed, Paul discussed a landmark victory for seniors earlier in the year with the repeal of the Social Security earnings limitation. He was an original cosponsor of HR 5, which was recently signed into law. The bill ensures that seniors who wish to continue working after retirement age do not lose any of their Social Security benefits.
“I am proud of our success in repealing the earnings limitation,” said Paul. “This is a great first step in providing true Social Security reform. Now we must continue to move forward with these reforms to protect our senior’s retirements and improve their standard of living.”
Among Paul’s latest senior legislation is the “Pharmaceutical Freedom Act” (HR 3636). The bill gives seniors a tax credit of up to 80% of their prescription drug costs. Paul says lowering seniors’ taxes to help pay for medications will benefit them more than creating a new Washington program full of red tape and bureaucratic regulations.
Paul said, “This legislation ensures that millions of American seniors have access to affordable pharmaceutical products. My bill makes pharmaceuticals more affordable to seniors by reducing their taxes. It uses free market forces, as opposed to government mandates, which will give seniors more choices and flexibility in deciding how to care for themselves and their loved ones.”
In the coming weeks, Paul will address each issue on his seniors agenda in greater detail. Any questions concerning Paul’s senior legislation should be directed to Norman Singleton at 202-225-2831.
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May 25th, 2000
Washington, D.C. – On Tuesday, Congressman Ron Paul announced his agriculture agenda for the 106th Congress. In a letter to constituents in the agriculture industry, Paul outlined the five areas on which he has been focusing his energies: commodity prices, expedited weather-related emergency aid, creating permanent income averaging, eliminating the estate tax and protecting the family farm.
“I believe the answer to the crisis in commodity prices is to expand access to markets,” said Paul. “I introduced legislation promoting trade with Cuba and have asked the President to permit more trade with Iraq.”
Paul has also actively supported legislation to make income averaging permanent. He was a cosponsor of a FARRM accounts bill in both the 105th and 106th Congresses. Last year, it finally passed but was vetoed by President Clinton. He said he would continue working to get FARRM signed into law, as well as eliminating the estate tax that has broken up many family farms due to the immense tax burden.
Paul said, “I want to see a complete end to the estate tax, and I have cosponsored legislation to achieve that goal. It is a crime that so many families are forced sell their land when loved ones pass away just to pay their taxes.”
Other items on Paul’s agriculture agenda are the “Agricultural Education Freedom Act,” which would exempt students from paying taxes on animals raised and sold through programs such as the 4-H or FFA, and HR 1617, which breaks up the monopoly of meat packers and regulatory agencies to cut red tape on local farmers and ranchers.
Questions concerning Paul’s agriculture agenda should be directed to Phil Boyd-Robertson in the Congressman’s Victoria office at 361-576-1231.
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May 24th, 2000
<br />
PNTR<br />
Mr. Speaker, yesterday morning the legislation which would have implemented ‘permanent normal trade relations’ with the People’s Republic of China was three pages in length. Today, it is 66 pages in length. Close examination of this bill ‘gone bad’ is demonstrative of how this Congress misdefines ‘free trade’ and how, like most everything else is in Washington, this ‘free trade’ bill is a misnomer of significant proportions.
For the past several years I have favored normal trade relations with the People’s Republic of China. Because of certain misconceptions, I believe it is useful to begin with some detail as to what ‘normal trade relations’ status is and what it is not. Previous ‘normal trade relations’ votes meant only that U.S. tariffs imposed on Chinese goods will be no different than tariffs imposed on other countries for similar products–period. NTR status did not mean more U.S. taxpayers dollars sent to China. It did not signify more international family planning dollars sent overseas. NTR status does not mean automatic access to the World Bank, the World Trade Organization, OPIC, or any member of other ‘foreign aid’ vehicles by which the U.S. Congress sends foreign aid to a large number of countries. Rather, NTR status was the lowering of a United States citizen’s taxes paid on voluntary exchanges entered into by citizens who happen to reside in different countries.
Of course, many of the critics of NTR status for China do not address the free trade and the necessarily negative economic consequences of their position. No one should question that individual rights are vital to liberty and that the communist government of China has an abysmal record in that department. At the same time, basic human rights must necessarily include the right to enter into voluntary exchanges with others. To burden the U.S. citizens who enter into voluntary exchanges with exorbitant taxes (tariffs) in the name of ‘protecting’ the human rights of citizens of other countries would be internally inconsistent. Trade barriers when lowered, after all, benefit consumers who can purchase goods more cheaply than previously available. Those individuals choosing not to trade with citizens of particular foreign jurisdictions are not threatened by lowering barriers for those who do. Oftentimes, these critics focus instead on human rights deprivation by government leaders in China and see trade barriers as a means to ‘reform’ these sometimes tyrannical leaders. However, according to Father Robert Sirco, a Paulist priest who discussed this topic in the Wall Street Journal, American missionaries in China favor NTR status and see this as the policy most likely to bring about positive change in China.
But all of this said, this new 66 page ‘free trade’ bill is not about free trade at all. It is about empowering and enriching international trade regulators and quasi-governmental entities on the backs of the U.S. taxpayer. Like NAFTA before us, this bill contains provisions which continue our country down the ugly path of internationally-engineered, ‘managed trade’ rather than that of free trade. As explained by Ph.D. economist Murray N. Rothbard: ‘[G]enuine free trade doesn’t require a treaty (or its deformed cousin, a ‘trade agreement’; NAFTA was called an agreement so it can avoid the constitutional requirement of approval by two-thirds of the Senate). If the establishment truly wants free trade, all its has to do is to repeal our numerous tariffs, import quotas, anti-dumping laws, and other American-imposed restrictions of free trade. No foreign policy or foreign maneuvering is necessary.’
In truth, the bipartisan establishment’s fanfare of ‘free trade’ fosters the opposite of genuine freedom of exchange. Whereas genuine free traders examine free markets from the perspective of the consumer (each individual), the merchantilist examines trade from the perspective of the power elite; in other words, from the perspective of the big business in concert with big government. Genuine free traders consider exports a means of paying for imports, in the same way that goods in general are produced in order to be sold to consumers. But the mercantilists want to privilege the government business elite at the expense of all consumers, be they domestic or foreign. This new PNTR bill, rather than lowering government imposed barriers to trade, has become a legislative vehicle under which the United States can more quickly integrate and cartelize government in order to entrench the interventionist mixed economy.
No Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, don’t be fooled into thinking this bill is anything about free trade. In fact, those supporting it should be disgraced to learn that, among other misgivings, this bill, further undermines U.S. sovereignty by empowering the World Trade Organization on the backs of American taxpayers, sends federal employees to Beijing to become lobbyists to members of their communist government to become more WTO-friendly, funds the imposition of the questionable Universal Declaration of Human Rights upon foreign governments, and authorizes the spending of nearly $100 million to expand the reach of Radio Free Asia.
Mr. Speaker, I say no to this taxpayer-financed fanfare of ‘free trade’ which fosters the opposite of genuine freedom of exchange and urge by colleagues to do the same.
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May 23rd, 2000
Washington, D.C. – Reacting to a proposed House rule allowing the so-called Bereuter language, and other changes, to the bill on normal trade relations with China, Congressman Ron Paul today announced he would vote against the legislation if the substance of the rule’s changes were included in a vote on final passage.
Paul said, “I have consistently voted year-in and year-out for normal trade relations with China, but now we have a situation where the House leadership has decided to cave-in to the liberal Democrat demand for more and more government. I cannot support that.”
For months, Paul has said he would support permanent normal trade relations with China. Last week, a version of the bill (HR 4444) was put forward by Phil Crane, a Congressman who, like Paul, strongly advocates free markets and free trade. However, when the President was unable to convince his own party to support him, he and the House leadership cut a back room deal aimed at securing the votes of liberal Democrats.
“This Congress has been repeatedly criticized by the very people who elected us,” said Paul. “Time and time again, I have heard it said that we are not doing the job we have been elected to do. Time and time again, we have given in to President Clinton and the liberal minority in the House. Enough is enough. These last minute changes have created a PNTR bill that introduces a new government commission and put our taxpayers on the line for millions in so-called ‘technical aid’ to Communist China. Apparently, the administration believed that left-wing members of Congress could be convinced to vote for freer trade and freer markets just so long as we will give more foreign aid to our Communist Chinese adversaries.”
Paul concluded by stating that managed trade features of the legislation now being discussed also disappointed him.
Paul said, “It is tiresome to continue hearing about free trade from the very people who are trying to cut off free trade. For example, this last minute language included so-called ‘anti-surge protections’. How in the world can any serious person suggest that is free trade? The changes made to appease the liberals made this bill the very opposite of what it claimed to be trying to accomplish.
“As so often happens with large bills in Washington, PNTR became a vehicle for big government, managed trade, foreign aid giveaways and the creation of new government commissions. I could have supported a clean bill that simply meant lower tariffs. But this bill, and the means by which these changes were brought about, cried out for rejection of the legislation and the entire process.”
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May 23rd, 2000
<br />
INTERNATIONAL TRADE<br />
Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, this week there will be a lot of talk on the House floor about international trade. One side will talk about pseudo free trade, the other about fair trade. Unfortunately, true free trade will not be discussed.
Both sides generally agree to subsidies and international management of trade. The pseudo free trader will not challenge the WTO’s authority to force us to change our tax, labor, and environmental laws to conform to WTO rules, nor will they object to the WTO authorizing economic sanctions on us if we are slow in following WTO’s directives.
What is permitted is a low-level continuous trade war, not free trade. The current debate over Chinese trade status totally ignores a much bigger trade problem the world faces, an ocean of fluctuating fiat currencies.
For the past decade, with sharp adjustments in currency values such as occurred during the Asian financial crisis, the dollar and the U.S. consumers benefitted. But these benefits will prove short-lived, since the unprecedented prosperity and consumption has been achieved with money that we borrow from abroad.
Our trade imbalances and our skyrocketing current account deficit once again hit a new record in March. Our distinction as the world’s greatest debtor remains unchallenged. But that will all end when foreign holders of dollars become disenchanted with financing our grand prosperity at their expense. One day, foreign holders of our dollars will realize that our chief export has been our inflation.
The Federal Reserve believes that prosperity causes high prices and rising wages, thus causing it to declare war on a symptom of its own inflationary policy, deliberately forcing an economic slowdown, a sad and silly policy, indeed. The Fed also hopes that higher interest rates will curtail the burgeoning trade deficit and prevent the serious currency crisis that usually results from currency-induced trade imbalances. And of course, the Fed hopes to do all this without a recession or depression.
That is a dream. Not only is the dollar due for a downturn, the Chinese currency is, as well. When these adjustments occur and recession sets in, with rising prices in consumer and producer goods, there will be those who will argue that it happened because of, or the lack thereof, of low tariffs and free trade with China.
But instead, I suggest we look more carefully for the cause of the coming currency crisis. We should study the nature of all the world currencies and the mischief that fiat money causes, and resist the temptation to rely on the WTO, the IMF, the World Bank, pseudo free trade, to solve the problems that only serious currency reform can address.
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May 19th, 2000
Washington, D.C. – On Thursday, Congressman Ron Paul testified about a piece of Social Security legislation before the subcommittee on Government Management, Information, and Technology of the Government Reform and Oversight Committee. The testimony centered around Paul’s “Freedom and Privacy Restoration Act” (HR 220) which he introduced at the beginning of the 106th Congress. The bill forbids federal or state governments from using the Social Security number for purposes not directly related to administering the Social Security system.
Paul said, “No private organization has the power to abuse personal liberty on as massive a scale as the federal government. Government agents have committed most of the major invasions of privacy, from the abuse of IRS files to the abuse of the FBI by administrations of both parties. This legislation is designed to stop the use of the Social Security number as a national ID number.”
Paul said the Social Security number has been transformed from an administrative device used to administer the Social Security program into a de facto national ID number. Most people cannot get a job, get married, or open a bank account without a Social Security number. In 1998, 210 members of Congress even voted to allow states to force citizens to produce a Social Security number before they could exercise their right to vote.
Last week, Paul testified before the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security about the abuse of the Social Security number. During that testimony he said that Americans are tired of having their right to privacy continually assaulted.
“Since I introduced the ‘Freedom and Privacy Restoration Act’, my office has received countless calls, letter, faxes, and e-mails from Americans around the country who are tired of having to divulge their Social Security numbers in order to get a job, open bank account, or go fishing,” said Paul. “The strong public outrage over the federal banking regulators’ ‘know your customer’ scheme, as well as the attempt to turn state drivers’ licenses into national ID cards, and the Clinton Administration’s so-called ‘medical privacy’ proposals all reveal the extent to which the American people oppose the ‘surveillance state.’”
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May 18th, 2000
Surfside, Texas – Congressman Ron Paul recently recognized the citizens of Brazoria County for their contributions to the “Local Legacies” program, a cornerstone of the 200th anniversary celebration of the Library of Congress. The Library is hosting a reception on May 23rd in Washington, D.C., honoring the citizens who participated in the program.
The Library of Congress selected more than 1,000 “Local Legacies” projects that are representative of local communities in the United States. The collection of visual, audio and written information will be permanently preserved at the Library for future generations illustrating what America was like at the end of the 20th century.
Four different projects were submitted from Brazoria County.
- Freeport Museum Director Derrick Wesley submitted numerous photos of historical facilities such as the original post office and jail.
- Emma-Jean Tanner coordinated the re-dedication ceremony of Stephen F. Austin’s death site in Brazoria and submitted a video.
- Beth Griggs submitted brochures, historical scrapbooks and photos entitled “West Columbia: First Capital of the Republic of Texas.”
- “Bells Across America”, a program from West Columbia that celebrates the Constitution, was also submitted.
Paul said, “As a resident of Brazoria County, I’m very proud to see all of this historical documentation that will be on display permanently for all to see. I’m honored to live in a county that is so rich in history and was so influential in the creation of our democracy. I commend all of the citizens of Brazoria County who participated in the ‘Local Legacies’ program for their efforts to preserve and display our heritage.”
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May 18th, 2000
Washington, D.C. – On Wednesday, the independent, nonpartisan National Taxpayers Union, once again, named Congressman Ron Paul as the 1999 “Taxpayers Best Friend” in the House of Representatives. The NTU gave Paul the highest rating of any member in the House for his votes on issues concerning fiscal policy. Paul has received the honor in the past, but said he was honored to be recognized again.
Paul said, “It is truly an honor to be recognized by the NTU for my dedication to lower taxes and promotion of local control over tax dollars. During my tenure in Congress, I have worked hard to put the taxpayer first. It is refreshing to see that my efforts have not gone unnoticed.”
Paul received an 89% “Taxpayer Score” for his commitment to reducing federal spending, taxes, debt and regulation. NTU President John Berthoud said more members of Congress would have to join Paul in fighting for taxpayers if we are to avoid a major economic downturn.
“Ron Paul and his tax-fighting colleagues in Congress may have forestalled a fiscal free fall,” Berthoud said. “But until most members of Congress can consistently bring themselves to vote for taxpayers interests more often than special interests, Americans may be in for a bumpy ride in years to come.”
Unlike many organizations, the NTU’s rating does not simplistically focus on only a handful of equally weighted votes. For this reason, it has received praise from lawmakers from both parties for covering almost every roll call vote involving federal money.
The NTU is a nonprofit, nonpartisan citizen organization working for lower taxes, less wasteful spending, taxpayer rights, and accountable government at all levels. The 1999 rating will be available on line at www.ntu.org.
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May 18th, 2000
Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing on my legislation, HR 220, the Freedom and Privacy Restoration Act. I greatly appreciate your commitment to the issue of personal privacy. Protecting privacy is of increasing importance to the American people. Since I have introduced this bill, my office has received countless calls of support from Americans all across the country who are opposed to the use of uniform identifiers. I have also worked with a bipartisan coalition of members on various efforts to protect Americans from the surveillance state, such as the banking regulators’ “know your customer” scheme, and the attempt by the Post Office to violate the privacy of all Americans who use Commercial Mail Receiving Agencies (CMRAs).
The Freedom and Privacy Restoration Act represents a comprehensive attempt to protect the privacy of individual citizens from government surveillance via the use of standard identifiers. Among the provisions of the legislation is one repealing those sections of the 1996 Immigration Act that established federal standards for state drivers’ licenses and those sections of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 that require the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a uniform standard health identifier. As I am sure my colleagues know, the language authorizing a national ID card was repealed in last year’s Transportation Appropriations bill and language prohibiting the expenditure of funds to develop a personal medical identifier has been included in the past two Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bills. These victories where made possible by the thousands of Americans who let their elected representatives know that they were opposed to federally-mandated identifiers.
Perhaps the most significant portion of HR 220 prohibits the use of the Social Security number for purposes not related to Social Security. For all intents and purposes, the Social Security number is already a national identification number. Today, in the majority of states, no American can get a job, open a bank account, get a drivers’ license, receive a birth certificate for one’s child without presenting their Social Security number. So widespread has the use of the Social Security number become that a member of my staff had to produce a Social Security number in order to get a fishing license!
As a test of citizen resistance, the Census bureau asked 21,000 households to report their Social Security number on their census form. One of the reasons the Census bureau is interested in the Social Security number is as a key to unlock information held by other government agencies.
Since the creation of the Social Security number in 1935, there have been almost 40 congressionally-authorized uses of the Social Security number as an identification number for non-Social Security programs. Many of these uses, such as the requirement that employers report the Social Security number of new employees to the “new hires data base,” have been enacted in the past few years.
Such Congressional actions do not reflect the intent of the Congress that created the Social Security system as that Congress in no way intended to create a national identifier. In fact, Congress never directly authorized the creation of the Social Security number — they simply authorized the creation of an “appropriate record keeping and identification scheme.” The Social Security number was actually the creation of the Internal Revenue Service!
The Social Security number did not become a popular identifier until the 1960s. In response to concerns about the use of the Social Security number, Congress passed the Privacy Act of 1974, because, as stated within the act itself, “The Congress finds the opportunities for an individual to secure employment, insurance and credit and his right to due process and other legal protections are endangered by the misuse of certain information systems.”
The Privacy Act of 1974 states that “It shall be unlawful for any Federal, State or local government agency to deny any individual any right, benefit or privilege provided by law because of such individual’s refusal to disclose his Social Security number.” This is a good and necessary step toward protecting individual liberty. Unfortunately, the language of the Privacy Act allows Congress to require the use of the Social Security number at will. In fact, just two years after the passage of the Privacy Act, Congress explicitly allowed state governments to use the Social Security number as an identifier for tax collection, motor vehicle registration and drivers’ license identification. When one considers the trend toward the use of the Social Security number as an identifier, the need for HR 220 becomes clear.
The Freedom and Privacy Restoration Act also contains a blanket prohibition on the use of identifiers to “investigate, monitor, oversee, or otherwise regulate” American citizens. Mr. Chairman, prohibiting the Federal Government from using standard identifiers will ensure that American liberty is protected from the “surveillance state.” Allowing the federal government to use standard identifiers to oversee private transactions present tremendous potential for abuse of civil liberties by unscrupulous government officials.
I am sure I need not remind the members of this Committee of the sad history of government officials of both parties using personal information contained in IRS or FBI files against their political enemies. Imagine the potential for abuse if an unscrupulous government official is able to access one’s complete medical, credit, and employment history by simply typing the citizens’ “uniform identifier” into a database.
This history of abuse of personal information by government officials demonstrates that the only effective means of guaranteeing American’s privacy is to limit the ability of the government to collect and store information regarding a citizen’s personal matters. The only way to prevent the government from knowing this information is preventing them from using standard identifiers.
In addition to forbidding the federal government from creating national identifiers, this legislation forbids the federal government from blackmailing states into adopting uniform standard identifiers by withholding federal funds. One of the most onerous practices of Congress is the use of federal funds illegitimately taken from the American people to bribe states into obeying federal dictates.
Certain members of Congress are focusing on the use of the Social Security number and other identifiers by private businesses. However, this ignores the fact that the private sector was only following the lead of the federal government in using the Social Security number as an ID. In many cases, the use of the Social Security number by private business is directly mandated by the government, for example, banks use Social Security numbers as an identifier for their customers because the federal government required them to use the Social Security number for tax reporting purposes. Once the federal government stops using the Social Security number as an identifier, the majority of private businesses, whose livelihood depends on pleasing consumers, will respond to their customers demands and stop using the Social Security number and other standard identifiers in dealing with them.
I hope that we in Congress would not once again allow a problem Congress created to become an excuse for disregarding the constitutional limitations of federal police powers or imposing new mandates on businesses in the name of “protecting privacy.” Federal mandates on private businesses may harm consumers by preventing business from offering improved services such as the ability to bring new products that consumers would be interested in immediately to the consumers’ attention. These mandates will also further interfere with matters that should be resolved by private contracts.
Furthermore, as we have seen with the administration’s so-called “medical privacy protection” proposal, federal “privacy protection laws” can actually undermine privacy by granting certain state-favored interests access to one’s personal information.
Some may claim that the federal government needs expanded surveillance powers to protect against fraud or some other criminal activities. However, monitoring the transactions of every American in order to catch those few who are involved in some sort of illegal activity turns one of the great bulwarks of our liberty, the presumption of innocence, on its head. The federal government has no right to treat all Americans as criminals by spying on their relationship with their doctors, employers, or bankers. In fact, criminal law enforcement is reserved to the state and local governments by the Constitution’s tenth amendment.
Others may claim that the federal government needs the power to monitor Americans in order to allow the government to operate more efficiently. However, in a constitutional republic the people are never asked to sacrifice their liberties to make the job of government officials a little bit easier. We are here to protect the freedom of the American people, not to make privacy invasion more efficient.
The main reason Congress should take action to stop the use of standard identifiers is because the federal government lacks constitutional authority to force citizens to adopt a universal identifier for health care, employment, or any other reason. Any federal action that oversteps constitutional limitations violates liberty because it ratifies the principle that the federal government, not the Constitution, is the ultimate judge of its own jurisdiction over the people. The only effective protection of the rights of citizens is for Congress to follow Thomas Jefferson’s advice and “bind (the federal government) down with the chains of the Constitution.”
I once again extend my sincere appreciation to Chairman Horn and the other members of the Subcommittee for holding this hearing and express my hope that this hearing begins the process of protecting the rights of all citizens to conduct their lives free from government intrusion.
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May 17th, 2000
Washington, D.C. – On Tuesday, Congressman Ron Paul asked all of his colleagues in the House to join him in supporting top quality education for America’s youth. Paul outlined several key pieces of legislation he has proposed that is designed to take control of the education dollar away from bureaucrats in Washington and put it back in the hands of parents.
Paul said, “Over the last thirty years, we have seen increasing centralization of education which has given federal bureaucrats more and more control and parents less and less. If we truly want to reform the system, we need to let parents keep more of their hard earned money to educate their children as they see fit.”
The cornerstone of Paul’s education agenda is the “Family Education Freedom Act” (HR 935). The bill will give parents a $3,000 per year tax credit for each child’s education related expenses. It would allow parents the maximum amount of freedom in determining how to educate their children. It would also be free of guidelines and restrictions that only dilute the actual number of dollars spent directly on a child.
Paul also introduced the “Agriculture Education Freedom Act.” The bill was written to address the undue taxation of students who participate in programs such as 4-H or the Future Farmers of America. Currently, students are forced to pay federal income tax when they sell livestock raised as part of an agriculture education program. The bill will remove the tax and allow high school students to save more for future college costs.
Paul said, “It is truly amazing with all the talk in this Congress over the need to increase the size of the federal government ‘for the children’ that we would continue to tax students who are trying to do the right thing and further their education.”
Other key elements of Paul’s education proposals are the “Teacher Tax Cut” (HR 937) and the “Education Improvement Tax Cut” (HR 936). The “Teacher Tax Cut” will give a $1,000 tax credit for every teacher in America, the equivalent of a $1,000 pay raise. The “Education Improvement Tax Cut” provides $3,000 tax credit for cash or in-kind donations to public schools to support academic or extracurricular programs.
“My education agenda of returning control over the education dollar to the American people is the best way to strengthen public education,” said Paul. “I call upon my colleagues to help strengthen public schools by returning control over the education dollar to parents and other concerned citizens, as well as raising teacher salaries by cutting their taxes, so that the American people can once again make the American education system the envy of the world.”
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