Major Owens was an influential American politician who served in the U.S. House of Representatives for over 20 years. A staunch advocate for education, civil rights, and economic equality, Owens dedicated his life to fighting for justice and opportunity for all. His leadership in championing the rights of marginalized communities and his tireless work to ensure that every citizen had access to education continue to inspire future generations of leaders to commit to making meaningful change in society. Owens' legacy is one of service and social progress.

"The kind of society which we still have is maybe, in some cases, getting worse. Competition is becoming a virtue. Intense competition drives people to go more and more into self-interest. Even to see other folks as competition."



"Excitement in education and student productivity, the ability to get a result that you want from students, go together and cannot be separated."



"Technology tools such as laptops are the kind of help that we need. A program that provides laptops for all youngsters would close a gap that most of us are not aware of, or will not admit to, which is a tremendous gap in the poor communities."



"I think some combined pressure could go a long way, could establish the fact that this legislation did pass and we mean business by it. We mean to have it enforced, we mean to have it become effective."



"The first place to start is on enforcement. We who got the ADA passed did the hard part, the heavy lifting."


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"I have a great deal of respect and admiration for people who put themselves on the line."



"Those involved in the program are interested in how to use photography, videos, the Internet, film, and anything related to communications and transmission of information in the most up-to-date modern ways."



"We can do it better, more consistently, and in the end, it will cost us less because the students that we produce will be superior to those without technology experience."



"In preparation for it, we need to have folks who are trained, we need facilities, equipment and supplies, that are going to be built into our society, and we are going to spend a lot of money on it."



"Therefore, you are not training young people for the world of today and the world of tomorrow unless you are doing proven technology training. That is one of the reasons I'm so concerned."



"Education technology is very important because we have a massive challenge in public schools."



"Our government just won't enforce civil rights laws. The laws will be ignored."



"Education technology and school construction go together. Modernization, updating education facilities, and making a capital investment in education are all included."



"It is very difficult to get legislation passed. But then the danger always is that you have no power at all if you do not exercise constant power."



"It was the best route to get folks to understand segregation fast. Civil rights and women's rights had a clear history. Making the transition to rights for people with disabilities became easier because we had the history of the other two."



"People's lives have to change as a result of this legislation."



"I will continue my activities related to education in one way or another. I certainly would have at the top my agenda, with respect to education, the need to do much better with modern educational technology."



"People didn't always see a person with a disability who had to use a ramp or elevator as people who have been given unnecessary privileges. But I run into that often now. People are saying, 'Why do we have to go to great expense for these people?'"



"I do not think we are ever going to be able to, for a long time, get the kind of quality of school personnel that we need in our schools, especially in the areas of science and math. One of the answers to that problem is to use more educational technology."



"We can close the gap and improve what happens in the classroom by using educational technology that is the same high quality everywhere."



"Competition is such a virtue, and everybody's so busy competing, they have no time for compassion."



"I would like to spend my next two years showing how the aim of making technology available to every young person can be built into the effort to make our nation more secure. That is my latest concern and what I will be pushing over the next two years."

