Patty Murray: “I ask my colleagues to join us in assuring that we can go back to the table and pass an appropriate D.C. appropriations…”

“I ask my colleagues to join us in assuring that we can go back to the table and pass an appropriate D.C. appropriations bill. There is inappropriate language in this bill on Davis-Bacon, there is inappropriate language in here that puts conditions on a woman's right to choose, and we have heard much over the last hour and a half about the inappropriate language on vouchers that is included in this bill. There have been many eloquent statements by my colleagues in opposition to the vouchers, but let us stop for a minute and ask, who wins under a voucher system? Do the parents? Do they really get a choice? Not really, Mr. President. The private school administrators will have more of a choice in students that they will be able to select for their private schools, but parents, unless they have the money that they will need, will truly not have a choice. And they will not have a choice if school administrators say ``no'' to their child. Will the students win under a voucher system? There is no evidence that students will win. In fact, in Milwaukee, which has had a voucher program for 5 years, test scores of voucher students did not rise. There is no evidence that students do better. Will the public schools win? Hardly.…”