Kent Conrad: “I do not think it is wise to reduce the highway and bridge construction budget of the United States by 27 percent. No.…”

“I do not think it is wise to reduce the highway and bridge construction budget of the United States by 27 percent. No. 1, it would cost over 350,000 jobs in America. No. 2, it would reduce the efficiency of the transportation system in our country. What sense would that make? It does not end there. The other major difference in the priorities of my budget from the President's budget is in education. Everybody says education is their priority, but the President's budget actually cut his signature education proposal, No Child Left Behind. The President, with great fanfare, went across the country drawing attention to the No Child Left Behind Act, but in the first budget he proposed, he cut the funding for No Child Left Behind. I also, in my budget, kept the Federal promise that was made long ago to the States with Disabilities Act funding for education. Educators all across America told us this was the single highest priority. It is the one thing that would help school districts across America the most, if the Federal Government would keep its commitment to fund 40 percent of the costs of the Disabilities Act. That is a promise we have not kept. Under the budget I have proposed, we would keep it.”