John Tierney: “I have heard more rhetoric going around here in the last hour or so than I think is warranted by this particular…”

“I have heard more rhetoric going around here in the last hour or so than I think is warranted by this particular subject. If we were serious about improving educational opportunities, this particular subject matter would have come up during the course of regular deliberations over the Secondary and Elementary School Act reauthorization, which is going to be next year. The fact of the matter is every time our colleagues on the other side stand up and tell us how much money is here for every State, what they are really telling us is they are authorizing a certain amount of money. But the fact of the matter is they are not appropriating that amount of money. What does history show us when things get block granted? Its shows us this is all about the 'Contract on America' theory that if they block grant things, they can eventually defund them. No matter how much is authorized to be appropriated, in the end, when it comes to be appropriated, it has been reduced. That is what happened under Title 6. Programs were put in a block grant and they were defunded over time. It is what happened in other areas of community service block grants in different communities, and it happens over and over again. It is part of the theory of putting them in a block grant, defunding them, and moving the money to some other priority. Madam Chairman, our priority on this side of the aisle is education.”