Max Baucus: “I don't know what the debate is all about. This is a no-brainer. It is an absolute no-brainer. All of us, when we are…”

“I don't know what the debate is all about. This is a no-brainer. It is an absolute no-brainer. All of us, when we are home talking to our teachers and to our communities, to school boards, know this is the right thing to do. It is clear. There is no contest. There is no debate. Congress passed No Child Left Behind trying to set levels of accountability. But then Congress did not provide the money to implement No Child Left Behind. It is contributing to all the cutbacks in our elementary and secondary schools about which we are hearing. I hear this constantly at home. I daresay that every Member of the Senate, when he or she returns home, finds the same comments. Again, I don't know why we are debating this amendment. It is pretty clear. I highly compliment the Senator from Washington. I don't know anybody who believes more and has spent more personal time helping to educate our Nation's children than the Senator from Washington, who is a schoolteacher. She is right. We should take our cues from what she is telling us. There is another reason to vote for this amendment. How are we paying for it? Closing tax loopholes. That in and of itself should be enough to pass the amendment. Also, we are closing tax loopholes to do something that is good; that is, supporting education. Education truly is a means of developing our greatest assets.”