Trent Lott: “I believe they were. And I believe they were advocated in the Finance Committee--at least one of them, if not both of…”

“I believe they were. And I believe they were advocated in the Finance Committee--at least one of them, if not both of them--by the Senator from New York, Senator Moynihan, because I remember in conference defending these programs. And they were objected to at that time by the House conferees. We didn't get them through. But they have been supported on a bipartisan basis. So I am really at a loss to understand the resistance to these, particularly since three of the four provisions have already been adopted by the Senate. I just wanted to have the Senator confirm for me my memory with regard to the strong vote that occurred. Should we have other amendments on education and tax provisions that would help education? Sure. Is this going to be the end of the debate this year on education? Probably not. I would imagine that Senators are going to have a number of provisions. Hopefully, we may even have another bill that would address the number of questions. I would like for us to consolidate some of the myriad of Federal programs that provide funds to education into a block grant. I understand there are some 750 Federal education programs of one sort or another, and almost 39, I think it was, different agencies, bureaus, or departments. Couldn't we consolidate some of those and send them back to the States without strings and let the States decide if they want to use that money for school construction or for a merit pay for star teachers?”