Jon L. Christensen: “I rise in support of H.R. 1--the Leave No Child Behind Act of 2001, in large measure because the members of the…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 1--the Leave No Child Behind Act of 2001, in large measure because the members of the Education and Workforce Committee were able to come together on a bipartisan basis to forge an agreement on a major education reform bill which would hold public schools accountable for improving the education of our children while offering substantial increases in Federal funds to help accomplish that goal. I applaud my colleagues the ranking Democrat on the Education and Workforce Committee, Mr. George Miller of California, for his work with Chairman Boehner and officials of the White House to reach a consensus on a bipartisan school improvement bill. As passed by the committee H.R. 1 authorizes $24 billion in funding on ESEA programs, representing a 29-percent increase over the current fiscal year and well above the funding levels provided for in President Bush's own budget. While these badly needed increase makes this is a good bill there still remain a number of political obstacles--such as the misguided budget reconciliation bill which this body passed last week--which must be overcome before we can have a sound bill.”