Frank Pallone: “this evening I want to spend some time discussing the topic of education in the 105th Congress. I just heard my…”

“this evening I want to spend some time discussing the topic of education in the 105th Congress. I just heard my colleague from Texas and the emphasis he put on education, and obviously the President has stressed it as his No. 1 priority. He did so in the State of the Union Address just last week. The Democrats, of course, as part of their families first agenda that they put forth in the last Congress have continued to prioritize education as an issue that the Congress must address that in particular should be addressed as soon as possible. The President and congressional Democrats have basically developed a very sweeping plan to make investments in every level of the Nation's education. And in so doing, Democrats have also filled the void that I think has existed since the opening days of this session. I should say by contrast that so far we have seen very little in terms of specifics from the Republican side of the aisle. We really have no indication of whether they are going to be receptive to the President's or the Democrats' education agenda. I was certainly disappointed today when, rather than spend time on a substantive issue such as education, the Republican leadership brought forward votes on the term limits.”