Dreier Supports the College Access and Opportunity Act

March 29, 2006

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my friend, the great history professor, who understands the importance of education and for his stellar service on the Rules Committee and his commitment to ensuring that we have a good piece of legislation.

At the outset, let me say that we obviously have seen Chairman McKeon work in a bipartisan way reaching out to my fellow Californian, Mr. Miller, from Martinez, California, who has also a passionate commitment to dealing with the issue of education.

I have to say when I sat in the Rules Committee yesterday, listening to this debate, I was struck by the fact that my friend, Mr. Miller, was regularly nodding his head in agreement with Mr. McKeon when he talked about issue after issue that had been addressed by the majority on the committee. I hope very much, as we proceed with this process, that we are able to once again enjoy the bipartisan support and commitment we had on this issue about 36 hours ago.

I also want to say to my friend from Massachusetts who raised the issue of the rule, this is the first of two rules. We have begun with this rule, and we will be providing an opportunity for more of our colleagues to offer amendments as we move on with this debate, which is not going to be a 1-day debate. We understand how important this issue is.

I also want to express my appreciation to Mr. McKeon for addressing some of the major concerns that have been brought forward by the leaders of private schools, private colleges and universities. One of the things that we need to recognize in our society is we have pluralism in education. We have spectacular public and private schools of learning. I believe, as we look at the education challenge, it is important for us to take the steps to ensure the strength of both of those. A number of concerns that have been raised by many of my friends in the academic world have been effectively addressed.

Mr. Speaker, it was 6 years ago this month that 15 European heads of state met in Lisbon, Portugal, and pledged to make the European Union the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010. By their own account, the EU has acknowledged that that goal has failed and will not be accomplished.

The German economist, Andreas Schleicher, published a report entitled, ``The Economics of Knowledge: Why Education is Key For Europe's Success.'' As the title indicates, Schleicher concludes in a knowledge-based, innovation-driven economy, education is the linchpin. He also concludes that right now Europe is lagging well behind the United States. He ranks the world's top 20 universities and finds that the EU is home to only two of those.

I am happy to say that the United States is home to 17 of them, including six in California, and one, the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, of which I am particularly proud.

Schleicher makes it clear that without a substantial investment in education in the high-tech and knowledge-based fields, the European Union will not only fail to reach its goal of having the most competitive economy by 2010, it will continue to fall further and further behind. The report was meant to be a wake-up call for Europeans, but I believe it should be a wake-up call for us as Americans.

We lead the global economy in growth, fueled by the power of our innovation. We are home to the world's best universities where today's students train for tomorrow's workforce, where creative thinkers conduct research and develop new technologies. But as a dynamic, fast-paced, highly competitive economy, we know better than anyone that complacency and stagnation are economic death knells. We cannot assume that today's competitiveness ensures tomorrow's success.

If we want to continue to be the global economic leader, we must expand our investment in education. We must better prepare students for the rigorous work that the high-tech workforce demands. We must better equip teachers to provide the educational foundation that our students need. And, Mr. Speaker, we must ensure that our institutions of higher learning continue to be the hotbeds of research where new ideas are tested, new methods are discovered and new technologies are developed.

I believe that H.R. 609, the College Access and Opportunity Act, which we are going to be considering, helps us to accomplish each of those goals. It is a critical component of our agenda to enhance the competitiveness of the U.S. economy, and it is necessary to ensure that the next generation of American workers does not find itself reading reports on our lack of top universities and our inability to compete in the global marketplace.

I urge my colleagues to support this rule, and as we go through this amendment process, specifically addressing concerns that I raised, that we will take on in the manager's amendment, I urge my colleagues to, in a bipartisan way, support this very, very important legislation.

DREIER ON CSPAN: DIAL-UP / BROADBAND