Timothy Roemer: “Mr. Chairman, the issue I close on in this bipartisan debate is we are trying to be innovative, and we are piggybacking…”

“Mr. Chairman, the issue I close on in this bipartisan debate is we are trying to be innovative, and we are piggybacking on a successful idea called Troops-to-Teachers that has transitioned thousands of people from the military sector into the teaching sector. Now we are trying to transition people, from accountants, police officers, people in high technology jobs, into the teaching profession. It is a bipartisan idea, supported by the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder), the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton), the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Davis), and me. It has an offset, so it is fiscally responsible. I would like to ask somebody on the Republican side to tell me substantively why they disagree with this issue? I would be happy to yield the next 10 seconds to them to disagree with it. Nobody rises on the Republican side to show any opposition to this amendment, which we have worked on, which the House has passed, which the Senate has passed, which we are trying to get through procedural obstacles and distractions, some way of bringing a good idea from the floor of the House to the American people.”