Political Quotes

“I rise in opposition to the Wellstone amendment. I look forward to the debate over the next several hours. I think the amendment comes back to some of the fundamental questions asked about this bill. It will give Members on both sides of the aisle the opportunity to address the fundamental concept of the bill, the structure of the bill, the why of the bill. It comes down to accountability, to flexibility, being able to figure out what the problems are. We all recognize there is a problem with education in this country. After diagnosing it, we need to intervene in a way that we can truly leave no child behind. This amendment addresses two issues: the whole concept of accountability using assessments and dollars and cents. The amendment states that no State shall be required to conduct any assessments in any school year by 2005 if the amount appropriated to carry out this part for fiscal year 2005 is not equal to or exceeds $24 billion. That summarizes the amendment. It can be broken into two arguments. One is money and how important money is, and is money the answer. The other is assessment and the testing. It is a useful component of what is proposed by President Bush and what is in the underlying bill today, as amended, accountability and assessment--that measuring success or failure is important if you want to intervene and make a difference.”