Political Quotes

“I yield myself the remainder of my time. Mr. Chairman, it has been 12 years since anybody in either body-- House or Senate--has had a chance to come to the floor in either Chamber and vote on education policy. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act has been overdue for reauthorization since 2007. When our colleagues on the other side of the aisle were in the majority or since we've been in the majority, neither party has been able to bring legislation to the floor in either body. Our children deserve better. We've been in a situation for years now in which the Congress of the United States--House and Senate--has abdicated completely to this administration its responsibility for establishing public policy. This administration has been issuing conditional, temporary waivers to suit its idea of what education policy ought to be, not what the legislative body and not what the people we represent say it ought to be. Our children deserve real reform of the Nation's education system. We can't allow these conditional waivers or temporary fixes or political infighting and an impasse here--whether the Democrats or the Republicans are in charge--to keep us from our fundamental responsibility to improve what is now, I believe, universally recognized to be a flawed law.…”