Tom Harkin: “I want to join with our committee Chair, Senator Jeffords, in reluctantly perhaps opposing the amendment offered by the…”

“I want to join with our committee Chair, Senator Jeffords, in reluctantly perhaps opposing the amendment offered by the Senator from New Hampshire. As I said in my opening remarks, Senator Gregg has been a leader on the issue ensuring that we had adequate funding to help the States and local school districts meet their constitutional obligations. However, again, as Chairman Jeffords said, this bill was a compromise worked out after long negotiations, and certainly there is nothing in the bill that would restrict us in any way from reaching the levels that Senator Gregg wants to reach in the future. So that the door is open. Hopefully we will find those resources that would enable us to help the States meet their obligations. So I join with the chairman in opposing the amendment. Mr. President, there was something else that was said. Again, my colleague, Senator Jeffords, responded adequately to it. But I would like to just add my remarks to buttress what Senator Jeffords said regarding the statement made by my friend, Senator Gregg, about this being some kind of unfunded mandate and falling under the unfunded mandate law of the Congress. Quite frankly, Mr. President, many people still have this concept that IDEA is an unfunded mandate. It is simply not correct. Again I want to set the record straight. Part B of IDEA is not an unfunded mandate.”