Kent Conrad: “I thank Chairman Kennedy especially for his passion and commitment to educating the children of our country. I was…”

“I thank Chairman Kennedy especially for his passion and commitment to educating the children of our country. I was raised by my grandparents. My grandmother was a schoolteacher and was only 5 feet tall. We called her Little Chief. She told us, as we were growing up, there were three priorities in our household: Education was No. 1, No. 2 was education, and No. 3 was education. We got the message. I deeply appreciate the absolute passion and commitment that the Senator from Massachusetts shows to the education issues. It is inspiring that he is able to maintain this level of commitment over these many years and has achieved such extraordinary results, including last year. I thought one of the greatest accomplishments of the budget resolution was the education package that Senator Kennedy brought before the body and that passed and became law. It increased Pell grants, which reduced the cost of getting a college education by enhancing and improving the loan program. I thought it was one of the two most significant accomplishments of last year. I thought the other one was the expansion of assistance for veterans health care. That, too, became law, and it did so because it was included in the budget resolution. No one had more to do with that package than the Senator from Massachusetts, and we thank him for his leadership.”