Dale Kildee: “Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the Michel substitute. H.R. 6 represents a very carefully crafted compromise…”

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the Michel substitute. H.R. 6 represents a very carefully crafted compromise designed to reflect the concerns of Democrats and Republicans alike. We have worked very closely to go over a yearlong process of crafting this bill. We had 39 meetings of the members. We have had 36 bipartisan subgroups meeting on various areas of this bill, and I think it does represent the best. I have always said that the education bill is best when it is drafted in a bipartisan manner. But the Michel substitute would eliminate several key provisions of H.R. 6, which we have labored so hard to put together. Let me just mention a few of those. It eliminates the library media assistance provisions. I suggest that we look at the libraries in this country. We know the average copyright date of a library book in our schools is 1965. That is before men went to the Moon. We certainly must help our libraries.”