[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 189 (Wednesday, November 29, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S17762-S17763]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF IDEA

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I rise to acknowledge the 20th anniversary 
of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act [IDEA].
  It is important to pause today and recognize the impact that this law 
has had on the lives of millions of children with disabilities and 
their families during the last two decades. Through this law we deliver 
on a timeless simple promise--every child with a disability shall have 
a free appropriate public education--no more, no less.
  The Senate Subcommittee on Disability Policy, which I chair, is 
involved in the reauthorization of IDEA. As the new chairman of the 
subcommittee, I wanted to get the facts before we began the 
reauthorization process. The subcommittee held four hearings on the law 
in May and July of this year. The first hearing on May 9, which I 
cochaired with my friend from California, Mr. Cunningham of the other 
body, was a joint congressional hearing on the 20th anniversary of 
IDEA.
  During the course of that hearing we heard from Members who were 
original cosponsors of the legislation in 1975, judges and attorneys 
involved with the landmark court cases that served as catalysts for 
IDEA, and former congressional staff and advocates for children with 
disabilities, who facilitated its historic passage.
  That hearing sent a valuable message to students with disabilities, 
their families, and educators. Members of Congress have a longstanding 
interest in assuring a free appropriate public education and early 
intervention services for infants, toddlers, children, and youth with 
disabilities. Designing and sustaining the Federal role in assisting 
States with these responsibilities is founded on bipartisan 
cooperation.
  There are many challenges that face America's young people: What to 
choose for a life's work, how to evaluate advice, how to judge one's 
own progress, and how to define personal satisfaction and happiness. 
Their approach to these questions will be colored by the behavior of 
adults around them. Do we celebrate individual abilities and 
differences? Do we encourage cooperation and collaboration in school? 
Do we respect and recognize the opinions of young people? Do we promote 
goal setting based on interests and abilities?
  How we answer these questions with regard to young people with 
disabilities is a barometer. If young people with disabilities are 
exposed to the experiences of their peers, if we help them become a 
valued member of their peer group, if we take into account their 
choices, and if we help them become the best they can be, they and 
their nondisabled friends learn a valuable lesson. They learn that 
adults care, that we are fair, and that we can be trusted.
  My good friend from Iowa and I released the first draft of the 
authorization bill for IDEA on November 20. As we developed the draft, 
we were always conscious of these young people and their future.
  We have spent many months reading and talking to people about how to 
best serve children with disabilities through IDEA. Five major 
principles influenced our drafting efforts.
  First, children with disabilities and their families should be the 
central focus of our drafting efforts.
  Second, if a provision in IDEA works, don't undo it.
  Third, add incentives that encourage schools to serve children, based 
on needs, not because of disability labels.
  Fourth, add incentives that encourage and prepare schools to include 
children with disabilities in schoolwide innovation, reform efforts, 
and assessments of student progress.
  Fifth, clearly link discretionary programs to the State grant 
programs, so that discretionary grants help educators educate children 
with disabilities and help families contribute in meaningful ways to 
the educational process of their children.
  We have done what we set out to do. We have crafted a bill that will 
take us into the next century, a bill that celebrates the legacy 
established 20 years ago today, a bill that gives parents and educators 
the tools they need to help young people with disabilities succeed, and 
a bill that delivers on that timeless simple promise--a free 
appropriate public education for each child with a disability.
  Such an education is an investment in people whose hopes, 
opportunities, and achievements are dependent on us. As we proceed with 
the reauthorization process, I urge my colleagues to join me in 
celebrating a law that works, a law that endures, a law that is most 
necessary. Although the difference it has made may be measured in 
dollars and judged in terms of children served, its impact is more 
pervasive, more powerful. Services it funds have lead to words read, 
concepts understood, steps taken, and words spoken--often for the first 
time. As such experiences are repeated, young people with disabilities 
develop pride and increased confidence 

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in their achievements. IDEA is definitely a law worth recognizing, 
celebrating, and preserving.

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