Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, when Congress passed the Individuals With Disabilities Act in 1975, the Federal Government made a commitment to pay 40 percent of the special education budget and required States to pay the other 60 percent. The Federal Government, however, currently only pays roughly 12.6 percent toward the IDEA budget, and the States are forced to make up the rest of what is an unfunded mandate. This amendment takes a more targeted approach by eliminating increases in four programs and moving the money into funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. This amendment would move about $383 million in funding, still far short of the $2 billion in increase necessary to move IDEA funding to the target that was outlined in the budget resolution. The amendment is not a criticism of the programs where we are taking the money out of. Rather, it is a transfer of funding to a program which Congress has said should be our number one funding priority. This is consistent with the budget resolution. It is also consistent with the resolution that passed the House of Representatives identifying IDEA as our most important funding priority. It is also very consistent with what educators, school administrators, and parents have said at the local level as we have gone around the country, because what this mandate does, without fully funding it, is it saps resources from local school budgets.”