Jeff Bingaman: “Let me go ahead and complete the summary of this amendment, if I could. First, I do recognize the Republican resolution…”

“Let me go ahead and complete the summary of this amendment, if I could. First, I do recognize the Republican resolution, which we have on the floor, asserts a commitment to increase spending for a few important education programs. We support the committee's decision to commit to increased funding for IDEA and for Pell grants and some other elementary and secondary education programs. But we do not support pitting these programs against other critical programs. We believe the more prudent course would be to guarantee the level of funding required to protect the programs that have proven themselves in our efforts to reform schools and bring improvements in student performance. Let me just go through this chart to try to clarify my understanding at least of the Republican budget resolution that is before us. The resolution asserts a $4.5 billion increase for mandatory and discretionary Department of Education programs. But when you try to figure out how that $4.5 billion is arrived at, the specific elements that are discussed at different parts of the budget add up to more than $4.5 billion. For example, there is $2.3 billion set aside for a new, mandatory performance bonus fund which is established.”