Robert Smith: “I am pleased to rise as one of the cosponsors of Senator Gorton's amendment. Many here, including the Presiding Officer…”

“I am pleased to rise as one of the cosponsors of Senator Gorton's amendment. Many here, including the Presiding Officer, spent the last year campaigning, and, frankly, I made education one of the cornerstones of my campaign. Everywhere I went there was frustration at the local level about Federal redtape, bureaucracy, burdens and costs that were imposed upon our common desire to educate our children. I said over and over again that I believed in local control. Now it is time to put to the truth what we said in how we will vote. I am proud to cosponsor this with Senator Gorton because it does exactly what we ought to be doing. Madam President, this amendment focuses the area of education on reform, returning the control of our education dollars back to where it belongs, at the local level. This amendment simply block grants the funds from the Department of Education for K through 12 and gives it to local schools. As my colleague, Senator Domenici, stated, we keep adding regulations, adding programs, adding money. But when we get to the end of the equation, we end with a negative result and subtracting from education. This amendment gives us the opportunity to give schools the flexibility to improve the quality of education at the local level, to improve the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic.”