[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 85 (Tuesday, June 11, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S6028]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                  IDEA

  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, on April 14, 1969, I gave my first speech on 
the Senate floor. I spoke about people with disabilities--the 
challenges they face in their daily lives and how appropriate services 
can make a big difference by giving them a shot at opportunities others 
take for granted. Thus, as I leave the Senate today, it is with a sense 
of symmetry and continuing mission that I am pleased today to rise in 
support of the Individual with Disabilities Education Act.
  I might say, we hoped to have that cleared. There is some problem.
  IDEA, as it is often called, gives States important financial help to 
educate students with disabilities and, in turn, provides students with 
disabilities with the guarantee of a free and appropriate public 
education.
  Mr. President, there are some issues that transcend politics, foster 
a bipartisan spirit, and result in legislation that makes a real and 
lasting difference. In my view, disability has always been one of those 
issues.
  Perhaps no legislation has been more important in improving 
opportunity for young people with disabilities than IDEA. In 1975, I 
was honored to help craft the first IDEA legislation.
  At that time, as unbelievable some may find it today, millions of 
young people were not allowed into school, simply because they had a 
disability.
  IDEA has helped change that, and IDEA is as important today as it was 
21 years ago. But the world has changed, and so, too, must IDEA.
  This latest reauthorization bill cuts administrative redtape, 
provides States more flexibility in spending Federal funds, demands 
greater accountability for educational results and helps educators 
maintain safe schools--without sacrificing any of the important 
protections IDEA gives students with disabilities.
  I want to acknowledge the hard work of Senators Frist and Harkin. 
Their efforts have paid off in a good bill, and I congratulate them.
  Mr. President, I do not know what judgments historians of the future 
will make of my record in the Senate. But, for me, I can think of no 
more important issue in a personal sense than disability, one that I 
have pursued with more constancy or greater pride, or has made a 
greater difference in people's lives. I hope others will reflect that 
what I did was right, not merely convenient.
  (The remarks of Mr. Dole pertaining to the introduction of S. 1856 
are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')

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