Jeff Bingaman: “It would increase the national investment in education over the committee's mark by $5.6 billion in budget authority in…”

“It would increase the national investment in education over the committee's mark by $5.6 billion in budget authority in fiscal year 2001. Our amendment will raise that up to $80.64 billion. It also would increase over a 5-year period the total amount devoted to education by $34.7 billion. In our view, this increase is essential if we are going to reflect the priorities of the American people. All of us know that the top priority of the people we represent is to see improvements in education and to see every child in this country given the opportunity to get a good education. Clearly, the decisions we make in this budget resolution will go a long way to determining whether that is possible or not. The amendment I sent to the desk would use about 15 percent of the proposed Republican tax cut.”