Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I do want to compliment the HELP Committee and Senator Alexander, who chairs that committee, for the great work they have done in bringing the Every Child Achieves Act legislation to the floor of the Senate. This is long overdue. Anybody who meets with school administrators, teacher groups, parents or school boards realizes that people for a long time have been looking for us to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and to make reforms that are important and that will return control and power to school districts, to parents, to teachers, and to administrators, rather than having it here centralized in Washington, DC. So I am pleased that we can have this debate. I am encouraged by the discussion that has already been held and by the willingness of both sides to work together to allow amendments to be considered. This is an important issue--how we educate our children, equipping them, preparing them for the challenges that will be ahead of them. There is no more important task that we have. So to the degree that this legislation makes it more possible for our kids to learn at the very fastest rate possible, this is something that this Senate ought to be focused on. I am hopeful that we will be able to get through the amendment process and be able to move this bill across the floor of the Senate and to the House, and hopefully, eventually, to the President's desk.…”