Mike Enzi: “This week, many of my colleagues have come to the floor to criticize the President and criticize his administration and…”

“This week, many of my colleagues have come to the floor to criticize the President and criticize his administration and even to criticize the Senate leadership for their commitment to education. This is a discussion we need to have every time the Senate debates spending, but every time we seem to plow the same old ground. There are a lot of platitudes and myths out there that keep being regenerated. It takes a lot of time, and it keeps us from completing the spending bills. I hope I can say a few words that will put this debate in perspective. My colleagues have argued that the current appropriations bill cuts education spending and it underfunds the No Child Left Behind Act. They have suggested, and I suppose will continue to insist, that the bill contains harsh and unacceptable cuts to education and that it will somehow leave students and teachers on their own. That is simply not the case. The bill contains over $12 billion for title I programs, the third straight year it has had an increase. That is a total increase of 45 percent in title I funding since 2001. It also contains $1 billion for Reading First, close to $700 million for State education technology grants, and over $1.1 billion for impact aid programs.”