Byron Dorgan: “I have great respect for our Senate majority leader. He and I agree on some things and disagree on others, but I always…”

“I have great respect for our Senate majority leader. He and I agree on some things and disagree on others, but I always have great respect for his opinion. But on the issue of schools and what kind of, if any, involvement the Federal Government shall have on this issue, I think we have a very substantial disagreement. State and local governments, especially local school boards, will always run our school system, and that is how it should be. I don't suggest, and would never suggest, that we change that. However, there are some things that we can and should aspire to as a nation in dealing with education. One is to improve and invest in the infrastructure of our schools. I have spoken on the floor a good number of times about the condition of some of the schools in this country. I won't go into that at great length, but let me just describe a couple of them. At the Cannon Ball Elementary School in Cannon Ball, ND, most of the children going to that school are Indian children. There are about 150 students who must share only two bathrooms and one water fountain. Part of the school has been condemned.”