Political Quotes

“Dr. Smith notes that they have been promised these Centers of Excellence for 30 years. The Senate needs to act, and it needs to include my amendment to right this wrong. I remind my colleagues that the 1890 land grants were created because many States, rather than allowing African-American students to attend the 1862 land-grant universities, decided to set up, in the name of segregation in those States, a separate system of colleges and universities. The 1890s schools, as my colleagues know, despite providing a pathway to the middle class for generations of mostly African-American students, have been ignored or, at best, underfunded since their creation. I have tried to figure out why my amendment is not just automatically set. Again, it was authorized by the Agriculture Committee; it passed the Senate unanimously; it was signed by the President. Why isn't this amendment acceptable? The majority can't be opposed because the House funded this program; the majority has cleared amendments that duplicate House money. It can't be because my amendment is too expensive, as the majority, I am told, is willing to clear a Thune-Hoeven amendment that funds Tribal colleges--which is a good thing--at the same level as my amendment. I have worked with the committee to find an offset for my amendment, and even though the authorization is for $10 million a year, at the committee's urging, I have reduced it to $5 million, and still, for whatever reason, they can't see clear to support this.…”