Todd Rokita: “I thank the gentleman for offering his amendment, even though I am opposed to it. Mr. Chairman, States should have good…”

“I thank the gentleman for offering his amendment, even though I am opposed to it. Mr. Chairman, States should have good textbooks for students that cover the material thoroughly, fairly, and most importantly, accurately. But there is no Federal role in determining what those books are or judging the quality of them, frankly. All the arguments the gentleman makes can be taken care of at the State level and at the local level. I fail to see how they would get any better result in any of his examples by having some Federal bureaucrat hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away from the situation do any better job with it. In fact, Mr. Chairman, the Federal Government already is prohibited from weighing in on things like curriculum and standards. There is absolutely no role for the Federal Government in approving or overseeing the adoption of textbooks. I think that is a bad idea. It leads us on a slippery slope to even worse outcomes. So it is in that spirit and that vein that I must oppose this amendment. I urge my colleagues, all of them, Republican and Democrat, to do so as well.”