John Kerry: “I regret that I must disagree with the judgment of the majority leader. This could have been one of the most important…”

“I regret that I must disagree with the judgment of the majority leader. This could have been one of the most important bills that we pass. We had an opportunity in the Senate to be able to really deal with the broad issue of education reform and the education needs of our Nation, but this bill does not do it. What it does do, it does in a way that winds up being a perpetuation of the divisions in our country between those who have and those who do not, and a division between our school communities in what is available to our children to be able to get the best education in our country. So I would not only say to the President don't sign it, I would say veto it. This is a bill that, in its current form, deserves to be vetoed. Why? The bill is definitely better than the bill that left the floor of the Senate. It is better because the Gorton amendment, which put all of our education assistance into a block grant, is gone. It is gone for good reason, because it would be an enormous mistake to make that judgment in the country where education is in such enormous need of help.”