Michelle Wu: “I want to say this as respectfully as I possibly can to all my friends in the Chamber. For the folks who just passed a…”

“I want to say this as respectfully as I possibly can to all my friends in the Chamber. For the folks who just passed a huge, huge mandate on local schools, mandatory national testing, I find this flip-flop of positions absolutely breathtaking. It is one of the striking things we can do in this Chamber. We debated block grants in the First Congressional District of Oregon, and the decision was pretty darn clear. Not only do Oregonians, and I think most Americans, want some accountability for public dollars spent for public purposes, that is the least that we can do for Federal funds that are spent for identifiable purposes in this bill. Also, I think Oregonians and most Americans can recognize that block grants are step one of a cynical two-step process. First, you muddy up the waters so that you cannot identify where the money is going anymore; and then the second step is you cut. You cut the support. It is like stretching out a chicken's neck. That is step one. And then the chop comes down. Step two. It is a cynical two-step process to cut Federal support for education. That was the debate we had in Oregon. The perspective I have on this prevailed in that debate, and I hope it does today. I urge opposition respectfully to the gentleman's amendment.”