Byron Dorgan: “Except Senator Thurmond. But historians will be able to look back at what we did here and evaluate, by looking at how we…”

“Except Senator Thurmond. But historians will be able to look back at what we did here and evaluate, by looking at how we decided to spend money, what our priorities were. What did we place first? What did we think was important? Kids? Education? What kind of legislation did we pass to advance these issues that are important to public education in this country? Finally, to those who say the public education system in this country is somehow unworthy of keeping, I ask them, how did this country get to where it is? How did we get here? Is anybody going out to the airport this afternoon to get on a plane and leave? Have they found a better place to live? I don't think so. We have had in this country a wonderful system of public education. We also have some outstanding private schools. Our obligation in this Chamber is to provide the support that we can, especially with niche financing. We don't provide the bulk of financing for elementary and secondary education, but we provide important funds to support a number of priorities in public education. That is our job. That is what we need to do. But we were told last week that because a bill is brought to the floor dealing with education--a bill that essentially provides tax breaks for those who want to send their kids to private school--somehow we are being selfish for saying let's amend this so we invest in and strengthen public schools.”