James M. Jeffords: “for many months now, the administration has shown its determination to wage war against Saddam Hussein. I am very…”

“for many months now, the administration has shown its determination to wage war against Saddam Hussein. I am very concerned that the Bush administration's intense focus on Iraq has blinded it to the critical needs here at home. While the administration prepares for a war with sky-rocketing cost estimates now in the range of $100 billion or more, it pleads poverty when it comes to funding our domestic needs. While the administration fixates on Iraq, the economy teeters, the stock market tumbles, the terrorist threat at home persists, and schools are threatened with premature closings for lack of money. Last week, our Nation's governors met here in Washington and issued a troubling warning. They told us our States are hurting. They told us they do not have the money they need to do their jobs and serve the people of their States. They told us their situations would only worsen if the President were to enact his tax-cutting plans. They told us they would need more than $15 billion this year alone in emergency funds for schools and domestic security. And as the headline in the New York Times put it, 'Governors Get Sympathy From Bush, But No More Money.' Sympathy will not pay our Nation's bills. We have the obligation to address the crisis in America's schools with the same urgency as the crises abroad. Our children deserve at least that much. We have fallen woefully short in our commitment to our students, our teachers and our parents.”