Political Quotes

“in 1994, the Federal Government spent less than 2 percent of the Federal budget educating the Nation's children. Now some in Congress are saying on the one hand that American children need to compete with the children of other nations--in other words that education is a national priority. On the other hand they are saying, let's spend less. I ask my colleagues, ``Is education a national priority or not?'' The overwhelming majority of Federal education spending goes toward evening the odds for disadvantaged children in America. Yet some would ask me to support a funding bill that would cut title I funding which helps students from disadvantaged backgrounds with the three R's. They ask me to support this bill even though it would deny this important funding to 19,100 Kentucky students. I am not ready to pull the educational rug out from under these kids. I firmly believe that the promise of America is equal opportunity, not equal outcomes. But I also believe title I is the kind of program that provides such equal opportunity and puts the Nation's money where its mouth is.”