Tom Harkin: “I thank my chairman for his leadership on this plan and for outlining in great detail the various aspects of the bill…”

“I thank my chairman for his leadership on this plan and for outlining in great detail the various aspects of the bill that he just covered, in our efforts to craft a truly bipartisan bill to bring to the floor of the Senate. Mr. President, S. 1061, the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and related agencies for fiscal year 1998, is now before us. Again, I want to start by commending our chairman for his skill and his craftsmanship in putting this bill together. Senator Specter has ably balanced the many, often competing requests we have received--as he mentioned, over 700 different types of requests from Senators. It is always a very tough job, and I appreciate how closely he has worked with me and my staff in crafting a truly bipartisan plan. For example, the bill's broad support was reflected in its unanimous approval by the full Appropriations Committee. I am especially pleased that the bill provides significant increases in funding for key education programs. This will help over 3.6 million low- and moderate-income students in colleges and institutions of higher learning this next year. This is the highest level of Pell grant support. The bill exceeds the support for education recommended by the bipartisan budget agreement by $164 million.”