John Thune: “Impact Aid is a program that supports school districts that have a heavy Federal impact in their school districts, in…”

“Impact Aid is a program that supports school districts that have a heavy Federal impact in their school districts, in this case Native American populations close to reservations. But if we extrapolate or expand this, Impact Aid is just one program. It is a program that has worked very effectively and one program that I have supported wholeheartedly to make sure that the resources are there to support our children, but think of all the various programs not only throughout the Department of Education but across all of government across this country, and the enormous potential for waste, fraud and abuse. This is why when we have these broad philosophical debates in Washington about what to do with Federal surplus dollars, should we spend it in Washington or should we get it back home, this is exactly why we have to get this money out of Washington and back in the hands of the American people. Furthermore, if we look at it in terms of a principle, again coming back to decision-making, who really cares about our children? And I think we all agree children ought to be the focus of our educational efforts.”