Jeff Bingaman: “I come to the floor today somewhat uneasy and conflicted about this debate. I am hopeful, on the one hand, that we in…”

“I come to the floor today somewhat uneasy and conflicted about this debate. I am hopeful, on the one hand, that we in the Senate can come together to provide national leadership by legislating what research has proven actually works in improving student performance. On the other hand, I stand having witnessed people from both sides of the aisle devoting a tremendous amount of time during the last year trying to figure out how to help all of the children of this country make it in today's knowledge-based economy. I am somewhat dismayed that the bill we finally arrived at the floor with is not the consensus legislation we were working to achieve. Unfortunately, our efforts to achieve a consensus piece of legislation have not succeeded. We have a bill before the Senate today which is decidedly partisan. I hope that can be changed during the course of this Senate debate. We need to examine this bill carefully because it is very important and not easy to comprehend. The bill gives Governors, who choose to exercise it, control of Federal education dollars and it would abandon the well-cultivated partnership and the powerful national leadership role that has been developed over several years.”