Pete Domenici: “As good as this idea sounds, we ought not do this. This is taking a major appropriation, a program we fund in…”

“As good as this idea sounds, we ought not do this. This is taking a major appropriation, a program we fund in appropriations every year, and making it an entitlement. There are a lot of great education programs. What if we start taking every appropriations bill that has exciting ideas for Americans and we say we don't want to appropriate them anymore; we will just turn them up as if they are Social Security, entitled to automatic funding. It is not the right thing to do, no matter what the program is. It is our responsibility to pay for IDEA, and special ed, not an entitlement against the American people without anybody voting on it again. It is not the right thing to do. I yield the floor.”