John Kline

Congress also has a responsibility to protect the best interests of the American people.

I would like to thank our witnesses for being with us. I also want to extend my appreciation to Representatives Virginia Foxx, Buck McKeon, and Joe Heck for their continued leadership on this important issue.

I expect we will also address a proposal introduced by my Democrat colleagues, one that offers their priorities for reauthorizing the Workforce Investment Act.

A strong and skilled workforce is vital to the nation's economic recovery.

I am a big believer in doing things, not just trying to do things.

The government isn't going to create the jobs.

The American people are really frustrated right now.

I want to take my closing remarks to reemphasize how important I think it is that we go right at that IDEA funding.

It is apparent that there is some remorse and some angst being expressed over the fact that the Pelosi Congress put into law a doubling of the student interest rates from 3.4 to 6.8 this year.

I have spent 36 years on this committee and 36 years in Congress, and this is going to be my last year.

The point is we have to set priorities and my argument is that we ought to have the priority be IDEA funding.

It just seems to me that the president is missing an opportunity by not putting that in his budget.

I think this is an overreach on your part. I don't believe that the language of the law allows the secretary to provide conditional waivers.

These schools need this money now. They can use it now; they know how to use it now.

I am really disappointed in the lack of any increase in IDEA funding in the president's budget.

I would argue and will argue that the trillion dollars of additional debt that the president's budget places on our children and students is probably not helpful for their future.

Improving education in America is a priority for everyone in this room.

We must be extremely cautious about policies that manipulate student loan interest rates and use need-based student aid subsidies as bargaining chips.

We reiterated our support for a less costly, less intrusive federal role in the nation's classrooms.

Students and their families need lasting solutions, not employ promises and short-term initiatives that kick the can down the road.

Regrettably, the administration has taken a markedly different course, advancing several programs and initiatives that make the federal role in education more costly and more intrusive.

The committee has since worked to eliminate unnecessary programs and reduce federal intervention in schools and colleges.

We identified areas of education spending that have failed to show results and stressed the need for an education system that is more accountable, transparent, and flexible.

There is a chance that an odorless gas might leak into your new office and it could kill you

Your new office is not like where you work now.