Harry Reid: “the amendment we will vote on at 12 noon that has been offered by the Senator from Nevada and the Senator from New…”

“the amendment we will vote on at 12 noon that has been offered by the Senator from Nevada and the Senator from New Mexico has the support of many groups around America. I will mention just a few: National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, National Council of La Raza, Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, League of United Latin American Citizens, LULAC, Migrant Legal Action Program, National Association for Bilingual Education, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, National Association of State Directors of Migrant Education, National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association, National Puerto Rican Coalition, Inc., National HEP-CAMP Association, ASPIRA Association, Inc. These are just a few of the groups. I would say when this matter is voted on at 12 noon today, there are no excuses. In effect, what has happened is the President has recommended these programs to be eliminated in general, dropout programs specifically. This is the opportunity for the Senate to speak that this is wrong. This is the opportunity for the Senate to recognize that there are programs that are important to the safety and salvation and security of this country other than those addressing things that explode. One of the things that is important to protect the security of this Nation is an educated population.”