Katie Porter: “Mr. Speaker, there can be no question but that the majority is just as committed to quality public education for the…”

“Mr. Speaker, there can be no question but that the majority is just as committed to quality public education for the children of America as anyone in the minority. To suggest otherwise is nonsense. But let us face it, there are many, many Government programs that have not provided that kind of quality and that have wasted taxpayers' money. It is time to review them to see if we can do better, and I know that we can do better. In higher education, it is suggested by the other side that there is going to be less money for student loans and grants. This is simply not true. There is no child in America that is going to have any less money this year than last year for their higher education. The cuts are in the administration of the programs. We can reduce overhead and do a much, much better job of educating children. On primary and secondary education, all of the cuts in the House bill would amount to less than three-quarters of 1 percent of the money spent on primary and secondary education in the United States. The sky is not falling. What we are attempting to do is to prioritize; to look where the money is wisely spent for good results, and to support those areas, and to cut those where the money is not wisely spent or is simply wasted.”