Political Quotes

“I rise to continue our discussion as we prepare to bring to the floor a very important bill that I believe realizes the dream of the President of the United States, his campaign pledge, the vision he has put forward of dramatically shaping and reshaping and modifying and changing Washington and the Federal Government's role in education. We are at a unique time. I believe never before in this body, at least in the history of the last 35 years since the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was first enacted, have the American people, and their Representatives on both sides of the aisle, been so focused on education, kindergarten through 12th grade, and the reform of education so that we truly leave no child behind. With that attention and that focus, come great expectations. I believe as a Congress we must seize that opportunity. We must work together, both sides of the aisle, to work with the President of the United States and take advantage of that opportunity to creatively improve how the Federal Government addresses education and to answer the question: What is the appropriate Federal role and how can we best leverage that Federal role to leave no child behind? I spoke a little bit to that point yesterday. It was to get Washington out of the business. Remember, of the total amount of money spent on education for K-12 in this country, only 7 percent comes from the Federal Government--from the taxpayer, I should say, through the Federal Government.”