James M. Jeffords: “I want to comment briefly on Senator Wellstone's willingness to modify his amendment. We all agree we want high-quality…”

“I want to comment briefly on Senator Wellstone's willingness to modify his amendment. We all agree we want high-quality tests, and it is entirely proper the tests required under this act be demonstrably valid and reliable. I appreciate the Senator offering his amendment, and I believe it is vastly improved. Hopefully, it will be acceptable. The Senate now has returned to consideration of the Better Education for Students and Teachers, called the BEST, Act. We have now spent a little over a week on this bill, and we have made good progress. We have disposed of about a dozen amendments, and we have eight that are pending, most of which I hope we can complete action on quickly. As my colleagues know, consent was reached that first-degree amendments were to be filed by 5 p.m. yesterday, and I want to bring my colleagues up to date as to those results. I compliment my colleagues for their interest and industry in preparing the amendments. Somewhere around 280 amendments were filed to the bill.”