Chuck Hagel: “I rise tonight in support of an amendment I have offered, along with my colleagues, Senators Dodd and Jeffords and…”

“I rise tonight in support of an amendment I have offered, along with my colleagues, Senators Dodd and Jeffords and others, to increase funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Act, IDEA, part B, by an additional $1.2 billion in fiscal year 2004. This amendment would bring the total IDEA fiscal year 2004 increase to $2.2 billion, which was the level approved by the Senate in the fiscal year 2004 budget resolution earlier this year. For the past 3 years, I have worked with Senators Harkin, Dodd, Jeffords, and many of my Republican colleagues to increase funding for IDEA. I have argued that no education funding priority is as important or will do more for States in this time of budget crisis than meeting our Federal commitment to IDEA. As we all know, in 1975 Congress guaranteed children with disabilities the right to free and appropriate education. This meant that, whatever the cost, States and local school districts would be mandated by Federal law to provide the necessary services to educate a child with a disability. Congress understood that this Federal mandate would be costly. As a result, they agreed to provide States with 40 percent of the cost of educating these children. That was almost 30 years ago. Unfortunately, Congress has not kept its end of the deal.”