Frank Pallone: “really, again, I do not think anything is more important right now in terms of our education agenda than the need to…”

“really, again, I do not think anything is more important right now in terms of our education agenda than the need to address the state of our schools, the infrastructure, the overcrowding, the issues that this bill would address. What we have stated before, and we will state again tonight, is that in this case a relatively small amount of money in terms of the overall Federal budget can really go a long way toward helping the States and the municipalities in dealing with this issue of overcrowding and crumbling schools effectively. I also think it is particularly important that the gentlewoman talked about the need to upgrade the infrastructure in terms of the electrical wiring. A lot of people do not realize that many of these schools are not equipped to deal with computers and the other high-technology needs. So even if we had the money to do that, how do we put it in if we do not have the money for basic infrastructure? That is why I think this is such an important part of the Democrats' education agenda.”