Cord Byrd: “I know it is easy to point to a bill that is a $31 billion bill. We increased that bill yesterday by $393 million. So it…”

“I know it is easy to point to a bill that is a $31 billion bill. We increased that bill yesterday by $393 million. So it is $31,393,000,000. Now, it is easy to look at that, easy to pick at little items--pick, pick--but I think that if those items are considered and studied and all the facts are known, they are justified. They are justified. We do the best we can with a big bill. I do not take a back seat to anybody in support for the people of this country: the education of our children, young people, and adults. Last year, the President requested $44.5 billion for discretionary education programs. This level was woefully inadequate. Through negotiations with the White House, I was able to reach agreement on a ceiling for discretionary spending that was high enough to provide a $4.4 billion increase for our Nation's education programs. Following that agreement with the White House, I provided, as chairman of the Appropriations Committee, an allocation to the Labor- HHS Education Subcommittee that was large enough for Chairman Harkin to approve a $4.4 billion increase over the President's request and $6.7 billion, or 16 percent, above the prior fiscal year. So if you are looking for 'Mr. Education' around here, I will stay in the ring; I will fight for that as hard as anybody else. I got my education the hard way. I started out in a two-room schoolhouse in southern West Virginia. I graduated in 1934 in a class of 28 persons. I was the valedictorian.”