Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the outstanding achievements of 21 Northwest Missouri School Districts that have received the State's Distinction in Performance Award. The Distinction in Performance Award is designed to be an incentive for School Districts to focus on improving academic achievement. The criteria for the award, established by the State Board of Education, requires that the School Districts meet certain performance standards in the Missouri Assessment Program test scores, ACT test scores, attendance and dropout rates, and other academic performance records.

Of the 524 Public School Districts in the State of Missouri, 157 were given accolades for their achievements in 2002. Twenty-one School Districts in the 6th District were honored with this distinctive award and are as follows: Avenue City School District, Chillicothe School District, Cowgill School District, Gallatin School District, Grundy County School District, Jefferson School District, Lathrop School District, Mound City School District, Mid-Buchanan School District, Nodaway-Holt School District, North Platte School District, Pattonsburg School District, Platte County School District, Rock Port School District, Savannah School District, South Harrison School District, Stanberry School District, Tri-County School District, West Platte County School District, Winston School District, and Worth County School District.

Mr. Speaker, please join me in honoring these exceptional School Districts for their dedications to and achievement in educating the children of the 6th District.

Mr. Speaker, I want to urge my colleagues to focus on returning more Americans to work. Although our economy continues to grow, I believe we should accelerate the economic recovery to help get more Americans back to work as soon as possible by focusing on two priorities, tax relief designed to get Americans working again and frivolous lawsuit reform. High taxes continue to be a burden on American families. Now is the time to accelerate the tax relief we passed last Congress, provide incentives to businesses to invest in new workers, and provide fair investor tax relief to boost our economic recovery.

We also look for fairness in the legal system. Frivolous lawsuits not only clog our court systems, but they cause higher prices for consumers and threaten robust job creation. As a result, too many businesses, especially small businesses, are investing too much money and paying excessive and frivolous punitive damages and not enough money invested in health care benefits for workers and new job creation. We must protect the rights of individuals who have been wronged, but we should not permit frivolous lawsuits at the expense of the American worker and consumer.

Frivolous lawsuit reform and tax relief are the key to healthy economic recovery and job creation. The sooner we act, the faster we can begin to get Americans back to work.