Political Quotes

“I hope that this effort will be the culmination of our long-term efforts to fully fund the Federal share of the Individuals with Disabilities Act. Last Congress, Senator Jeffords and I twice offered budget amendments to fully fund IDEA, and I have offered many measures over the years to increase funding for IDEA. Of course, I also have worked closely with Senators Kennedy and Harkin on this issue, and I am thrilled to be joining today with the many other cosponsors of this bill, Senators Murray, Reed, Hagel, Roberts, Collins, and Snowe. The Helping Children Succeed by Fully Funding IDEA Act offers Congress the opportunity to fulfill our goal of funding 40 percent of the cost of educating children with disabilities and to strengthen our support for children, parents, and local schools. This act is quite simple, it directs the appropriation of funds for IDEA so that we will fully fund IDEA by 2007. When Congress passed IDEA in 1975, we set a goal of helping States meet their constitutional obligation to provide children with disabilities a free, appropriate education by paying for 40 percent of those costs. We have made great strides toward that goal in the last few years, having doubled Federal funding over the past 5 years. Nevertheless, we still only provide 15 percent of IDEA costs. In my own State of Connecticut, in spite of spending hundreds of millions of dollars to fund special education programs, we are facing a funding shortfall.”