Mark Souder: “I rise today to offer a perfecting amendment to this bill. Let me be perfectly clear. I support the bill as it is…”

“I rise today to offer a perfecting amendment to this bill. Let me be perfectly clear. I support the bill as it is currently drafted, and I am one of 14 original cosponsors. I believe, however, that the bill could be perfected with the minor adjustment my amendment offers. As the bill stands now, the subtitle that amends Safe and Drug Free Schools would allow the Secretary of Education to develop a rating system to determine whether a public school has a quality drug program. My perfecting amendment would change this provision to require that States, rather than the bureaucrats inside Washington, establish their own standard of quality for drug prevention programs within their borders. My rationale in offering this change is simple. It would ensure that authority over education programs be maintained where it should be: at the State level. It is important to keep in mind that while this amendment would require States to establish their own standards, my amendment would still require modest criteria to be considered by States in their determination of quality.”