Arlen Specter: “The essence of this matter is that the Senator from Massachusetts has offered an amendment to restore funding in…”

“The essence of this matter is that the Senator from Massachusetts has offered an amendment to restore funding in education to the 1995 level, and that is a proposition that I agree with on the merits. I chair the subcommittee which has jurisdiction over the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education. When the subcommittee received an allocation which was $1.534 billion more than the House, all of that money was put into education, with the leadership of the distinguished ranking member, Senator Harkin, and myself. While I agree that we ought to have more money in education, I must oppose this amendment. If the allocation stays as it is, and no additional money is added to the subcommittee allocation by an agreement reached between the President and the leadership in the Congress, then there will be a 10.5 percent cut on many, many very, very important programs.…”