Portland Observer. May 25, 1983 Section I Page 5
Washington Hot Line
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Gospel Records
bv Congressman Ron Hyden
Q. What are the chance* that the
naw law requiring the withhold
ing of taxaa on interest and divi
dend* will be r*p *el*d before It
goes Into affect July 17
A . I would say they look pretty
good at thia point. The House o f
Representatives recently passed —
by an overwhelming margin and
with my wholehearted support —
legislation that would repeal this ill-
conceived idea. In addition, the
Senate passed an amendment that
calls for the deferral of interest and
dividend withholding until July I ,
1987.
The Senate must now agree to the
House repeal plan or the House
musi agree to the Senate deferral
plan before one of the two proposals
can be sent to the President for his
signature. President Reagan has
threatened to veto any legislation
that will repeal the withholding pro
vision,
but
the
overwhelming
support in the Congress suggests
enough votes exist in both Houses to
override a Presidential veto o f either
measure.
I was an early and active
opponent o f the withholding idea.
In fact. I voted against the w ith
holding provision when it came to
the floor o f the House last summer
as part o f the 1982 lax increase bill,
and I was an original cosponsor of
legislation introduced in the first
week o f the new Congress to repeal
it.
Repealing this provision makes
sense. W ithholding would be expen
sive for consumers and financial in
stitutions alike and would lake
billions o f dollars directly out o f the
flow o f Mvings at a time when we
should be building our Mvings pool.
It also would greatly inconvenience
many senior citizens who must
apply to be exempt.
Proponents o f the withholding
provision argue that it will increase
federal revenues by cracking down
on the few people who cheat on
their tax returns by not declaring
interest
and
dividend
income
Everyone, o f course, should pay
their fair share o f taxes. But we
should not penalize the vast mgjori-
ty o f taxpayers who are honest when
other, far less burdensome, ways
exist to stop the few who are not.
Q. How close la Congress to
enacting a naw budget, and
what are the chance* that the
one it adopt* will ba more equit
able than those of the past two
years?
A . Both houses are now on record
for a budget that holds the line on
defense increases and removes some
o f the budget-cutting burden from
the shoulders o f low- and middle-
income Americans.
By a one vote margin, the Repub
lican-controlled Senate recently ap
proved a fiscal 1984 budget resolu
tion that would provide less for de
fense than the president is seeking
and for tax increases opposed by the
Adm inistration.
And last m onth, the House of
L.P.s *5” Singles
Two-record Set 8M
Representatives passed a similar
budget resolution, which I supported
I supported this measure for two
basic reasons. First, it instills in the
federal budget a key component
missing in the Reagan budget —
fairness.
Second, it calls for a significantly
lower deficit than the president's
budget. The deficit under the
Reagan budget is estimated at more
than $200 billion dollars, with con
tinued unacceptably high deficits in
the out years.
The two houses' plans now must
be reconciled in a conference com
mittee — made up o f members from
both bodies.
But, whatever the ultimate dollar
figure they arrive at, it is clear that
both bodies do not agree with the
administration’s continued attempt
to place the burden of budget-cutting
on the shoulders o f those least able
to bear it, while letting the Pentagon
spend freely.
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Salem Update
D ow ntow n
by Donna B. ¿ajonc
Representative. District 32
Often we hear that the quality o f
our educational system is declining
dramatically, that we have become
"m ediocre." The report released by
the National Commission on Excel
lence in Education, an “ Open Letter
to the American People,” said “ The
educational foundations of our
society are presently being eroded
by a rising tide o f mediocrity that
threatens our very future as a
nation and as a people." The N a
tional Assessment of Educational
Progress states that 71 percent o f
high school seniors cannot satisfac
torily solve problems in applied
math, 56 percent have an inade
quate understanding of the physical
sciences, and 85 percent cannot
write a persuasive paragraph.
I have sponsored legislation
which will have a significant impact
on developing excellence in educa
tion and creative programs for the
future. A Council on Science and
Mathematics, created by H B 2905,
would be responsible for identifying
problems in the existing educational
system. This Council will then
develop and implement programs
that work to solve these problems;
also, it will provide a plan for (he
future o f science and math educa
tion. These critical areas must be
addressed immediately as we are
entering a technical, inform ational
era and well-educated minds will be
our most important “ capital."
Equally important in a total plan
for excellence in education is devel
oping creative, innovative pro
grams. H B 2710 directs the Oregon
Educational Coordinating Comm is
sion to study the feasibility o f creat
ing an Oregon High School for
Science and Mathematics.
The goals o f the Oregon High
School for Science and Mathematics
would be to:
• Encourage and develop the
minds o f uniquely talented high
school children.
• Allow students with extraordi
nary skills to learn from each other.
• Allow an exciting and creative
educational process which would
attract top notch teachers.
• Provide a laboratory with the
most up-to-date equipment with
learning tools for talented children.
• Provide a signal to the business
community that Oregon intends to
be competitive by showing that our
educational programs reflect our
commitment.
• Provide a pool o f outstanding
instructors and up-to-date equip
ment that can further train high
school science and math instructors
around the state during the summer
intermission. By doing this, a
partnership is created between the
School o f Science and Mathematics
and the other schools throughout
Oregon, both working to upgrade
curriculum.
• Set a standard for excellence.
Recent studies in many private
and public schools, both in England
and America have identified Five
factors that must be present in a
school in order for its students to
learn.
According to the U .S.
National Institute o f Education
survey, these critical factors are I)
high expectations, 2) strong leader
ship, 3) emphasis on instruction, 4)
discipline, and 5) testing. The
Oregon School for Science and
Mathematics would allow the op
portunity to apply these principles
in a controlled situation. Expecta
tions for able students would be
higher since instructors would not
be limited by unmotivated pupils.
This alternate high school would
also allow experimentation with new
concepts to determine feasibility for
use in Oregon’ s educational system.
By working with a small group of
students in a controlled situation,
we would be able to explore new
ideas and demonstrate what can be
done.
I believe the Oregon High School
for Science and Mathematics is a
creative idea directed at demanding
the best. The idea originated from
North Carolina's successful pro
gram, but the "O regon Story" may
be different. For that reason 1 be
lieve the existing Educational C oor
dinating Commission should be di
rected to study the feasibility o f the
high school: siting, funding, bal
anced curriculum, certification of
teachers and many other difficult
considerations. I f the E C C finds
that this is not the best way to en
courage excellence in our education
al
system,
the
ECC
should
recommend to the 1985 Legislature
specific ways that will coincide with
Oregon's educational system. The
options might include regional pro
grams, more talented and gifted
funding, summer programs, or Sat
urday schools. Either way, our
efforts must head in the direction of
finding the best method to educate
our youth.
Many people ask, “ W hy not fund
our educational system so every
school district has the same oppor
tunity afforded this school?" Quite
simply,
we
support
education
through basic school support. We
do not force standards, curriculum,
etc. As legislators, our ability to
mandate excellence is limited. We
must open our minds to provide
models that look into the future and
set high standards for other public
schools.
Oregon has always been known
for its leadership — the Oregon
High School for Science and M athe
matics will be an example o f that
leadership and Oregon's continued
efforts to look to the future.
Striving for excellence in education
is wisely investing in Oregon's youth
— the best investment we can make.
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Connecticut is the only state in the U.S. with a law
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Harvard University was first known as Cambridge.
b v Ross Danielson
Central America is now the focus
o f a bewildering series o f actions by
the U.S. Congress, President, Rea
gan. and other government and
military officials. Most recently the
U.S. military commander in the Pa
nama Canal Zone sought to rally
support for ‘ ‘open-ended" U .S.
military aid to the Salvadoran gov
ernment, while the director o f the
C IA boasted that U.S.-supported
counter-revolution will overthrow
the revolutionary government in N i
caragua by the end of the year. But
these ugly sounds were preceded by
hopeful signs o f Congressional op
p o s itio n-cutting aid requests, call
ing for termination of covert activi
ties against Nicaragua, and demand
ing that the Salvadoran government
launch direct, unconditional talks
with the opposition.
Needless to M y, all o f these direc-
tions taken by Congressional oppo
sition were moderated by serious
compromise.
T o those who support social re
form , human rights, and political
democracy in Central America, re
cent Congressional actions have a l
ternatively been encouraging and
discouraging. Taken together, cur
rent events spell crisis for U.S. fo r
eign policy and for the broad and
growing constituency for a new U.S.
policy in Central Am erica— a time
o f increasing opportunity and in
creasing peril.
The peril lies in the Reagan A d
ministration's
dangerously
and
childishly simplistic view o f world
politics as a struggle o f good and
evil (U .S .A . versus U .S .S .R .). The
opportunity lies in the growing
formulation o f a coherent progress
ive foreign policy based on increas
ingly courageous Senators and Rep
resentatives and burgeoning pro-
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gressive foreign policy constitu
encies.
The challenge to these constitu
encies is now to see the parts o f Cen
tral America as interrelated, to mo
bilize around the issue o f Central
America, and to link this mobiliza
tion to an electoral strategy which
can at once integrate progressive
foreign policy issues into larger poli
tical power blocks and also bring
foreign policy issues to the grass
roots.
The structure o f the Democratic
Party, with its link to popular roots
and ties to the national arena of
power, is one important and open
arena— and an instrument— for this
effort. The promise o f a Democratic
role in movement toward a progres
sive foreign and military policy is
evident in current Congressional op
position to the Reagan administra
tion in Central America. A t the
same time, however, Congressional
compromises and the likelihood o f a
painful stalemate through 1984.
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makes clear how far we have yet to
go.
Head Oftice
2737 N. E Union
Portland, Oregon 97212
(This column is submitted by the
Democratic District 18 organiza
tion. When signed, the opinions are
those o f the w riter.)
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