Jack Reed: “the last election demonstrated clearly and graphically the importance of education as a concern to the American people.…”

“the last election demonstrated clearly and graphically the importance of education as a concern to the American people. It is perhaps their highest priority. They have indicated overwhelmingly in poll after poll that education reform and improvement is something they desperately want and that this Nation desperately needs. They have also indicated their top priority for the use of the Federal budget is investment in education. Indeed, 81 percent of individuals polled recently indicated they would approve of a bold national commitment to improve education similar to our commitment to build the Interstate Highway System and to do many other projects of critical importance to the American public. It is, indeed, fitting then that President Bush would embrace this notion of education reform. I commend him for his interest. I welcome the beginning of a very serious debate about how we can at the Federal level assist local communities to improve elementary and secondary education in the United States. We should begin, I believe, by recognizing that over the past 8 years, we have made progress.”