Duncan Faircloth: “my amendment will directly help students and teachers in this country. It is an amendment that simply requires…”

“my amendment will directly help students and teachers in this country. It is an amendment that simply requires accountability of our spending at the Department of Education. This amendment will require the Secretary of Education to certify that 95 percent of the amount we appropriate in this bill goes directly to students and teachers. If the Secretary cannot certify that 95 percent of our spending directly benefits students and teachers, then the Secretary must certify what percentage is being spent. Mr. President, the Department of Education will spend $31 billion in 1998. The Department is receiving an increase of nearly $3 billion in funding for 1998. No one is a stronger supporter of education than I am, but education has, and hopefully will be, a local issue. So I would hope that the role of a Federal Department of Education is to provide additional funds for students and teachers, not bureaucrats. I think we need to fire bureaucrats, and feed teachers! The Department will spend $400 million on management alone. My concern is the Department is rife with wasteful programs. For example, there is $4 million for the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. There is money for education of prisoners in Hawaii and money to study waste disposal in Hawaii. There is $15 million for education of juveniles in prison. More than $64 million will be spent on just research. These are just a few examples.…”