Mark Hatfield: “This bill pending before the floor now does not cut 25 percent. It is cut 12 percent. The Federal education bill in this…”

“This bill pending before the floor now does not cut 25 percent. It is cut 12 percent. The Federal education bill in this present form represents support for education comprising 67 percent of the national education expenditures. It has been cut, of course; it has been cut 12 percent as we are moving toward reductions of Government spending. Thus, the Federal cut is on a base of 6 percent of national expenditures on education. On the total national expenditures, it is a 6-percent reduction. With the additional funds in the title IV, the education cut is reduced less than 5 percent. Now, those are contingent upon agreements being reached between the President and the negotiators on the long-term balanced budget. I just want to make that correction for the record. I wish to say also that last spring when we allocated the 602(b) allocations we indicated our strong support on the Senate Appropriations Committee for education. We allocated $1.5 billion more than the House had allocated for the Labor, HHS Subcommittee 602(b).”