Education Department secretary nominee Linda McMahon is "an innovator" and the right person to lead President Donald Trump's transformation of education in the country, Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, told Newsmax on Thursday.
McMahon is scheduled to appear Thursday before a Senate committee for her confirmation hearing.
During an appearance on "Wake Up America," Owens told co-hosts Sharla McBride and Marc Lotter that McMahon understands the task at hand.
"First of all, I'm excited about where we are today. And Linda is the right person because she's an innovator," Owens said. "Every entrepreneur understands that there's a return on investment that we should be looking for. She knows what that return investment looks like, and she knows that the product that we have for our kids should be actually the focal point."
Owens, a member of the House education committee, advised Democrats who are criticizing McMahon to "sit this one out."
"Matter of fact, I'm going to give you a visual. They should sit in the corner with their back to the room and a dunce hat on," he said. "They have failed millions and millions of our children, and there's no excuse for it and for them to be upset about us.
"Now, changing the trajectory says they don't care about our kids, my friends. They don't care. They care about the adults and that's what they've taken care of over the last 50 years. And we now have a new sheriff in town. And I'm excited about the fact that innovators like this will be the new heroes of our future."
Trump as recently as Wednesday said returning education to the states to control will improve students' scores.
"There's a very powerful three words: We the people," Owens said. "When you allow the people to have the power, parents and states and those that will be under the eye of those parents, things will change. You bring meritocracy into it. You bring the competition into it. It's the way our country works.
"You look at our country. Competition has been the magic of what makes us happen. We've never had that in education, and we need to do that now. Those who are against it are the same ones that have overseen this disastrous process for the last 50 years. So let the parents have a say."
Owens also was asked about his bill that aims to limit foreign influence on college campuses.
"Unfortunately, we have too many of our colleges and school systems that are actually investing in foreign adversaries and taking funds from our adversaries," Owens said. "I was saying, we need transparency. We need to know exactly where the money is. The money is coming in. If there's any influence, any influence in our higher education or K through 12 ... Parents need to know about that."
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