Bob Schaffer: “During the last series of votes, 68 Republicans voted against the President on the most important provision of his Leave…”

“During the last series of votes, 68 Republicans voted against the President on the most important provision of his Leave No Child Behind plan, and that was the portion that would have allowed students to be educated in private institutions if their public institution had failed them. That is unfortunate, because that was the heart of the bill. And since we are not going to allow students to go to private institutions, it makes perfect sense that we should now adopt this amendment to at least allow the private institutions to come into the schools and help educate children. In this case, we are talking about the Boy Scouts of America, which, as we just heard from the previous speaker, there are some here in Washington who are willing to associate the word ``intolerance'' with the Boy Scouts of America, which, of course, is just absurd. The Boy Scouts of America are anything but that. They are extremely tolerant and extremely open and they are a fine organization that has a long history in helping to provide guidance and support and education to the young boys of America who will ultimately become some of America's best leaders.”