Jeff Bingaman: “let me first say that I am an original cosponsor of the amendment by the Senator from Illinois for funding for school…”

“let me first say that I am an original cosponsor of the amendment by the Senator from Illinois for funding for school construction. There is a great need in this country for this. In my view, one failure, one defect of the budget resolution before us is that we give great emphasis to higher education and very little emphasize to elementary and secondary education. The needs are great in my State for school construction funding, and I think this is a beginning. I grant it is a modest beginning, but it is a step in the right direction. I commend the Senator from Illinois for offering this amendment, and I intend to support it. I rise as an original cosponsor of the Mosely-Braun amendment to restore funding for school construction to the resolution. The lack of school construction funding is one of the many ways that this resolution reveals its strong emphasis on higher education rather than improving elementary and secondary schools. In fact, the lack of funding for the repair and construction of schools is perhaps the most obvious and compelling gap in this resolution. I believe this is especially true since New Mexico is facing such a serious problem with its schools: As of 1994, 94 percent of our schools needed to upgrade or repair onsite buildings, and 29 percent had crumbling roofs. In 1996, 44 percent of districts in New Mexico had at least one building in need of serious repair or replacement--much higher than the 33-percent average nationwide.”