Political Quotes

“I wanted to first of all comment on the good intentions of the Unfunded Mandates Caucus. I understand, in our discussion, what they are trying to do to not place a burden on local school systems. However, I have a concern that if we were to vote and accept that particular amendment which says that there is no mandate, that we do not have to go along with this recording program, that, therefore, the program does not exist. This makes it more palatable perhaps in the minds of some people, and I, quite frankly, think that we should just vote down the Rohrabacher amendment on its own lack of merits and not because it is not something that is funded. Mr. Chairman, I believe that we, in Congress, must be committed to the education of all of our children. For this reason, I rise in opposition to the Rohrabacher amendment, which would require the more than 14,000 school districts across the country to report the number of undocumented students in their school systems. This amendment also would prohibit funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to serve students who are not lawfully in the United States. The Rohrabacher provisions are unwise, unworkable, and unfair for a number of reasons. Keeping track of undocumented students would create a paper nightmare for school districts.”