Political Quotes

“I am here to speak as eloquently as I possibly can in favor of this proposal. The genius and the persistence of the Senator from Georgia in bringing this major educational reform this far is to be commended highly. I feel a particular attachment to this bill because with the help of the Senator from Georgia, while it was being debated before the Senate, there was added to it my own triple option, an opportunity to let each State decide whether or not it would continue to get its Federal aid to education in the present fashion, as a block grant to the State without Federal regulations, or as a block grant directly to school districts without either State or Federal regulations, trusting the people who provide education to their children--teachers, principals and elected school board members. Because that is a relatively new idea and highly controversial, its inclusion in this bill would have frustrated our ability to pass this bill and send it to the President. It was, therefore, with my reluctant consent, dropped from the bill that is before us at the present time. But the perfect should not ever be the enemy of the good, and the work that has gone into this proposal, the fact that it is highly bipartisan, the fact that there is a real opportunity that it should become law makes it one of the most important bills and the most important debates that we have engaged in in the State so far this year.”