Asa Hutchinson: “I believe we have spent close to a week--perhaps more than a week-- talking about education without having yet taken a…”

“I believe we have spent close to a week--perhaps more than a week-- talking about education without having yet taken a single vote on an amendment. I believe this issue is of such great importance that while we do not want to shortchange the amount of time we spend on this issue, and while we do not want to short circuit the process, we also do not want to become victims of the process. I saw last year where we spent weeks on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and where we had other items of important business that would interrupt the education debate, and where we would return to the education debate, and while there was never a formal filibuster, the effect last year was to have a filibuster by amendment and by process, so that extraneous amendments prevented us from ever getting a final vote on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the reauthorization of this important bill. The losers, as always, are the American people and, more critically, the children of this country. I urge my colleagues to allow us to proceed with the bill.”