Asa Hutchinson: “I know we have had a healthy debate on education and on the need for our educational infrastructure around the country.…”

“I know we have had a healthy debate on education and on the need for our educational infrastructure around the country. What we can all agree on is that many schools in the country are in desperate need of repair and improvement. Just because we can agree on a problem, however, doesn't mean we agree on the appropriate solution. I think the proposal of the distinguished Senator from Iowa to create a new school construction program provides an illustration of this point. We have a big difference on how we ought to approach the solution. The bill before us maximizes the impact of limited Federal dollars by focusing them on programs for which there is a clear and historical Federal role. Creating a new facilities grant program in the Department of Education, I believe, will raise false hopes and divert our energy away from the urgent task of securing more funding for programs such as IDEA for which there is a clear and unequivocal established Federal responsibility. The Finance Committee earlier--a few weeks ago--agreed to some measures to provide relief in the area of school construction in the Affordable Education Act. This was bipartisan. This came from the Finance Committee with broad support. It addresses this issue of school construction in a far more constructive and advantageous way. I want to offer, in my amendment, the provisions of that Affordable Education Act dealing with school construction to S. 1.”