David Thomas: “I am waiting for one of our Senators. In the meantime, let me again say how important it is that we move on with what we…”

“I am waiting for one of our Senators. In the meantime, let me again say how important it is that we move on with what we started to do in this Chamber. We have been working on the education bill now for a very long time. The committee has done a great deal of work. But we find ourselves now sort of postponing consideration of the bill. This is the third time I have been in this Chamber today to ask for another hour of postcloture activity. The time has come, certainly, for us to begin consideration of the bill, to begin to move forward, to begin to talk about those areas of disagreement, and to begin to offer the amendments that need to be considered. I think, clearly, this bill is one of the most important issues on which we will be working. We have talked for a long time about the need for accountability. We have talked for a very long time about the need for additional funding. We have talked a long time about the flexibility that should exist when we have Federal money going to local and State governments so that there can be enough changes made to allow for the differences that exist in communities. Certainly that is important. We have talked a lot about how we need to help teachers become more efficient and more effective in that they are the most important aspect of education. We have talked about parental choice so that students can move between public schools in the various communities at the choice of the parent.”