Roger Wicker: “I urge my colleagues in the strongest of terms to reject the Obey approach to education. And I want to make two quick…”

“I urge my colleagues in the strongest of terms to reject the Obey approach to education. And I want to make two quick points and then a larger point. The first point I would make is to reiterate what my chairman, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Porter), said. When our friends on the Democratic side say accountability, they really mean Federal control. They really mean the absence of local flexibility. And, in my opinion, they mean the absence of accountability to the schoolchildren and to the parents. That is my first point. The second point, and it needs to be understood over and over, not only by the Members in this room but by the American public, is that we have increased the President's education budget in this conference report. We are over $600 million higher than the President's request on education. Now, that is point number two. Point number three comes down to what we are really talking about. It is a difference in philosophy between the two political parties on the very important issue of education, and that is the question, do we insist on the President's request for his program on school construction? Now, there is not a soul within the sound of my voice who would not like for us to have better schools and better school buildings and better school facilities. We are all for that. The question is how do we do it.”