Judd Gregg: “This amendment which is brought forward by the Senator from Connecticut, although benign in its phraseology, is…”

“This amendment which is brought forward by the Senator from Connecticut, although benign in its phraseology, is pervasive in its effect. In fact, I am not sure there is another amendment that is pending before this bill--although the Senator from Connecticut has one which is pretty pervasive in its effect--but I am not sure there is another one that would have a larger impact, a more substantive impact, a more dramatic impact on the educational system of our country than this amendment right here. The unintended consequences of it are, I am sure, overwhelming. I am not going to even try to anticipate them. I just read the amendment a little while ago, so I am not totally up to speed on the unintended consequences. I can tell you what the obvious intended consequences are of what amounts to essentially a nationalization of the educational systems of this country. Education has always been a local and State responsibility. But when the Federal Government takes the role of saying that the local and State governments shall have comparable educational systems, and will become the enforcer of those comparable educational systems across the Nation, it is no longer the function of the local and State governments, it is the function of the Federal Government. The Federal Government has taken that power.”