Dan Coats: “it is interesting that in this debate not one person who is opposed to the scholarship program for D.C. students has…”

“it is interesting that in this debate not one person who is opposed to the scholarship program for D.C. students has come down here and addressed the fundamental issue of this debate. The fundamental issue is, will we give poverty-stricken minority children the opportunity to escape a failed educational system so that they, too, can participate in the American dream? We have talked about plumbing, air conditioning, crumbling schools, and we have heard if you can't give it for 100, you can't give it for any. What kind of argument is that? In other words, if you can't totally reform the system all at once for everyone, you condemn another whole generation in the District of Columbia--and in Chicago and other cities around this country--to failure and the inability to gain skills to become gainfully employed or to have the opportunity to go on to further education. Now, this argument about bleeding the system--if I could have the attention of the Senator from Illinois and the delegate from the District of Columbia, who is on the floor--bleeding the system. The D.C. school system gets $672 million a year, and you are saying that if you added $7 million, the system would be fixed? The General Accounting Office said that 25 percent of the maintenance budget never leaves the maintenance facilities office. It doesn't go to fix plumbing. The system is broken.”