The Wit and Wisdom of Ted Kennedy - Bill Adler [17]
—Speech at the Conference of the
National Council for Social Studies,
April 11, 1970
Every generation has its own mission in the life of the nation. Your generation may well be the peace generation, because the issue of nuclear war or peace will in all likelihood be settled by you.
—Address at the Brown University
Commencement Forum, June 4, 1983
Good schools and good teachers are every bit as important to the future strength of our country as a strong defense.
—Comments at a committee hearing,
September 10, 2002
There has been a steady drumbeat of loud calls for cutting welfare benefits by some in this Congress. But there has been a deafening silence on the need for child care. It is time to break the silence and put together a realistic reform—reform based not on rhetoric but on results.
—Statement on welfare reform,
March 1, 1995
We must invest more in early education and healthy development for the youngest children, so that entering school ready to learn is no longer just a hollow mantra but a genuine reality. … If we fail to meet a child’s development needs starting at birth, we fail not only the child, but our country and our future as well.
—Address at the National Press Club,
Washington, DC, January 12, 2005
We all agree that no child should be left behind—regardless of background, race, or gender, or whether a child is homeless, a child of a migrant worker, or an immigrant. Every child has the right to a high-quality education and every qualified student should be able to afford to go to college. But we cannot call for reform, then refuse to pay the bill. Parents and children deserve a guarantee, not a federal IOU.
—Statement on the Bush education budget,
March 29, 2001
For our many young people today who have grown up in a drug culture and are experimenting with drugs, the emphasis should be on prevention and rehabilitation, not simply throwing them in jail. We should not automatically burden these youngsters with the albatross of a criminal felony to wear for the rest of their lives.
—Statement, October 7, 1970
America does more today to regulate the safety of toy guns than real guns—and it is a national disgrace. When we listen to what unnecessary and preventable gun violence has done to the victims here today, we know that action is urgently needed. Practical steps can clearly be taken to protect children more effectively from guns, and to achieve greater responsibility by parents, gun manufacturers, and gun dealers. This legislation calls for such steps—and it deserves to be enacted this year by Congress.
—Introduction to legislation on
Children’s Gun Violence
on the first anniversary of the
Jonesboro School Shooting,
March 24, 1999
It is wrong—dead wrong—to grant oversized tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, but fail to invest more in our nation’s public schools. What we need is not just a tax cut, but an economic plan that responds to today’s shaky economy by helping all Americans get a good education and good jobs. If we expect our children to succeed in the 21st century economy, we must do better. If we expect our schools to meet the challenges of a modern education for all of our children, we must do more.
—Press conference on the Bush education budget,
March 20, 2001
Today, by the time they enter school, the average child will have watched 4,000 hours of television. That is roughly the equivalent of four years of school. For far too many youngsters, this is wasted time—time consuming “empty calories” for the brain. Instead, that time could be spent reading, writing, and learning. Through Ready to Learn television programming, children can obtain substantial educational benefits that turn TV time into learning time.
—Statement on the Ready to Learn,
Ready to Teach Act of 2001, March 22, 2001
The most important relationship in children’s lives is the one with their parents. It is absolutely