[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 122 (Monday, September 9, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10051-S10054]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           THE REPUBLICANS' RECORD ON EDUCATION AND MEDICARE

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, although Republicans in Congress claim to 
support education, they cannot escape the record of harsh education 
cuts proposed by the Republican majority in Congress, led by Newt 
Gingrich and Bob Dole. Just this past weekend, Christiane Valfour, a 
college student at the University of Pittsburgh, challenged Bob Dole to 
explain why Republicans in Congress pushed for deep budget cuts in 
Federal student aid last year. Candidate Dole's response was silence. 
When the student asked why Dole opposed the highly successful direct 
student loan program, again, candidate Dole was at a loss for words.
  It is no surprise that Bob Dole decided to take the fifth amendment 
on education. In fact, anything he said would incriminate him. The 
truth is that candidate Dole supported the Republican budget last year 
that proposed the largest education cuts in the Nation's history. That 
Republican budget also capped Direct loans for college students, 
denying the opportunity for over a thousand schools to choose the loan 
program that provides the best service and lowest fees and other costs 
to their students.
  I commend to all the Members the excellent presentation that was made 
by our colleague and friend from Illinois, Senator Simon, on this 
issue. He has been a strong leader in support of the direct loan 
program.
  Candidate Dole and the Republicans in Congress are desperately trying 
to run away from their slash-and-burn record on education. But the 
American people won't be fooled. They know investing in education is 
important to the Nation's future, and they won't be deceived by the 
Republican claims that pretend to support education, while cutting the 
heart out of the investment that is needed to give education the 
priority it deserves.
  In communities across America, it is back to school time, back to 
classes, back to homework, back to parent-teacher meetings, and back to 
preparing pupils for the future.
  It is also back to crowded classrooms. Secretary of Education Richard 
Riley has called this school year the

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``baby boom echo.'' Student enrollment will reach an all-time high of 
52 million, surpassing the 1971 record of 51 million.
  Here in Washington there is a different echo--the echo of the 
education-cutting Republican Congress. Last fall, the Republican 
Congress--led by Speaker Newt Gingrich and former majority leader Bob 
Dole--proposed the largest education cuts in U.S. history. Democrats 
fought these harsh cuts at every turn, because we believe in education 
as the key to the door of the American dream.
  Republicans proposed to cut $3.7 billion in education last year. That 
proposal failed because the American people would not stand for deep 
cuts in education funding. But the Republicans refused to listen. They 
insisted on proposing similar cuts in education funding in a series of 
short-term spending bills.
  Last January, I offered an amendment to one short-term spending bill 
that would have restored full funding to education--$3.1 billion. But 
the Republican leadership blocked the measure. Even when a majority of 
the Senate--51 Senators--supported the amendment, the Republican 
leadership used a procedural trick that required 60 votes for passage--
so education lost again.
  Last April, prospective college students were desperate to know how 
much financial aid would be available for the coming school year. 
Teachers were receiving pink slips because schools were expecting huge 
cuts in their budgets. As the crisis deepened, Republicans in Congress 
abandoned 90 percent of their harsh cuts and agreed to education 
funding $400 million below the 1995 level. It took the Republicans 9 
months to learn what American families already knew--education is the 
key to America's future and must be a high national priority.

  Throughout the past year, the American people have consistently said 
``no'' to education cuts and ``yes'' to doing more to see that every 
child gets a decent education and can afford to go to college.
  I might point this out, Mr. President, on this chart, to give you a 
better idea of what these cuts were. If we take the 1995 
appropriations--and this is after the rescission of several hundreds of 
millions of dollars--$3.7 billion was cut from education in the House 
appropriations bill for fiscal year 1996. In the continuing resolution 
$3.1 billion was cut from education as compared to the 1995 
appropriations level. In the 1996 omnibus appropriations agreement--the 
final agreement that was made--we cut $400 million from education. This 
agreement was made with the President after the Government shutdown. 
The education cut was reduced to just $400 million less than the 1995 
appropriations as a result of the President talking about the 
importance of education, Medicare, and the environment, which are high 
national priorities. President Clinton demonstrated a commitment to 
these priorities by getting us back close to the 1995 appropriations 
levels.
  Notice what has happened this year. In the 1997 appropriations, the 
House of Representatives has cut education funding by more than one 
billion dollars from last year's agreement. When they are able to get 
their hands on it, they go right back down to $1.5 billion in the House 
appropriations bill.
  The Senate appropriations bill will be marked up soon. So, hopefully, 
we will have an opportunity to address this issue. But if we are not 
assured that we are going to consider the education appropriations, 
others are going to offer amendments to restore education funds on the 
next appropriations bills that come before the Senate. We can't take a 
chance on the funding of education--not that money in and of itself 
guarantees improvements in education. It does not. But it is a 
reflection of the Nation's priorities.
  That is what we are talking about in this debate; let's strengthen 
the programs in various priority areas. We heard earlier today of the 
excellent work that was done with the leadership of Senator Simon, 
Senator Bradley, Senator Durenberger, a bipartisan effort to move us 
toward the direct loan programs. I welcome the opportunity to join in 
that effort with the support of the President.
  Thanks to the Direct Student Loan Program, we have alternatives in 
the college financial aid programs, as was pointed out by Senator Simon 
earlier today. Last year, Republicans in Congress tried to eliminate 
the Direct Loan Program. They would have taken away a good alternative 
for young people to pay for college.
  Nonetheless, I think is important to clarify what happened in last 
year's battle over education funding. This past weekend, one of our 
colleagues, who was answering a question from Christiane Valfour in 
Pennsylvania at the University of Pittsburgh, denied the Republican 
education costs. She challenged Bob Dole to explain why the Republicans 
proposed massive education cuts in their budget, and he was speechless. 
Then a Republican Senator came up and said that she was completely 
misinformed, and that the Republicans had not cut education. It is 
important as we enter into the final days of this Congress, as we make 
our final judgments on the issue of higher education and also 
elementary and secondary education, that we understand exactly what has 
been done.
  Now, as we begin a new school year, teachers are teaching more 
students than ever before. Communities are fighting to prevent youth 
drug use and crime. Schools are trying to equip classrooms for the 21st 
century. But the elephant never learns. Instead of helping schools and 
children to prepare for the future, Republicans in congress are bent on 
repeating the past instead of learning from it. They have slashed 
education funding again this year, cutting education by $1.5 billion 
from the fiscal year 1995 level in the House appropriations bill for 
1997, which begins October 1. The label fits and sticks. This 
Republican Congress--the Gingrich-Dole Republican Congress--is the most 
antieducation Congress in the Nation's history, bar none.
  We know that when we ask and expect more of children, they achieve 
more. More students than ever are taking harder courses. SAT scores are 
up. But Republicans don't get it. They tried to zero out Goals 2000 in 
the fiscal year 1996 appropriation, but we stopped them. In the fiscal 
year 1997 proposal, the Gingrich House Republicans again zeroed out 
funding for Goals 2000, which is helping 5 million schoolchildren 
achieve higher standards of learning.
  The Goals 2000 Act was passed with bipartisan support both in 
committee and on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Ninety percent of Goals 
2000 funds go to the schools at local level to give assistance to 
schoolteachers, to parents, and to citizens involved in their 
communities, who want to enhance students' academic achievement. Goals 
2000 has been zeroed out. Unfortunately, I think it was zeroed out 
because it was an initiative supported by President Clinton and his 
administration.
  We know that the use of advanced technology in education increases 
achievement and reduces dropouts. Computers help teachers spend more 
time with students and teach them more complex lessons. Classroom 
technology helps prepare students for the 21st century workplace. But 
the Republicans don't get it. In fiscal year 1996, they tried to zero 
out the Star Schools Program, but we successfully fought to restore the 
funding. In their fiscal year 1997 proposal, the Gingrich House 
Republicans again zeroed out the Star Schools Act, which helps bring 
schools into the information age. They cut $27 million from the 
President's budget for technology challenge grants, which help bring 
computers into classrooms.
  I wish some of our Members had the chance to visit some of the Star 
Schools Programs I have visited. I remember several years ago visiting 
an excellent Star Schools Programs in the State of Mississippi. Senator 
Cochran has been interested in distance learning for a long time. We 
found that in a number of schools throughout Mississippi and the South 
students were taking classes in advanced calculus and advanced 
mathematics. These classes were not available within their particular 
communities, but the Star Schools connections allowed them to work with 
some of the best teachers that exist, both in Mississippi and in other 
Southern Communities. Star Schools programs bring high-level courses to 
many students who would not have the opportunity to take these 
challenging classes in their local schools. It was enormously 
impressive.

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This is just one example of the importance of bringing the newest 
technology that is available into our schools. Nonetheless, Republicans 
have cut education technology programs including Star Schools and also 
technology challenge grants.
  We know that communities, schools, and families are working hard to 
prevent youth crime and drug use. But Republicans don't get it. They 
tried to slash the funding for the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Act by 60 
percent in fiscal year 1996, but we didn't let them. In their fiscal 
year 1997 proposal, the House Republicans cut $25 million from the Safe 
and Drug-Free Schools Act, the only Federal Program dedicated to 
providing funds to schools to combat drug use and violent behavior.
  Even in the Human Resources Committee during the last Congress, the 
Drug-Free Schools Program was effectively wiped out, and the funding 
was transferred to a youth block grant program. But it was one of a 
number of different programs that would be available to young people, 
depending on the decisions of the various Governors. At the time, we 
made a decision that schools needed to have some consistent support 
across this country in terms of drug-use prevention and violence 
prevention activities. So we passed the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and 
Communities Act. In this current appropriations bill, Republicans in 
Congress continue to reduce support for safe and drug-free schools.
  The appropriations for education funding are going to be acted on by 
the Senate this week. It is important, since the budget is an indicator 
of national priorities, that we understand exactly what is before the 
appropriator and what will be before the Senate and before the American 
people. I believe that most Americans think that education programs 
deserve a strong national investment.
  We know that half of all college students need financial aid to go to 
college. Three-quarters of all student aid comes from the Federal 
Government. Between 1985 and 1994, the average cost of attending 
college rose by 39 percent while the median family income rose by only 
1 percent. College graduates earn almost twice what high school 
graduates earn and nearly three times what high school dropouts earn. 
But Republicans do not get it. In fiscal year 1996, their attempts to 
eliminate the funding for Perkins loans and the supplemental State 
incentive grants failed. In their fiscal year 1997 proposal, the 
Gingrich House Republicans again zeroed out funding for Perkins loans, 
which helped more than 700,000 students go to college last year. And 
they again eliminated the supplemental State incentive grants, which 
helped over 1 million students attend college.

  In the coming weeks, we will hear Republicans claim that they support 
education, schools, children, and teachers. But candidate Dole and 
Speaker Gingrich and their Republican colleagues cannot escape their 
antieducation record.
  President Clinton is the education President. He has fought hard and 
successfully to block the Republican cuts in education funding. His 
budget for the coming years is a budget that invests in education. 
While Republicans want to subtract $1.5 billion from education, the 
President wants to add $2.8 billion. That is the right priority for 
Congress, and the right priority for America.
  As this chart shows, the House Republicans want to cut education by 
$1.5 billion this year, and the Senate Republicans are continuing the 
battle in terms of cutting education funding.
  Mr. President, the fact remains that over the period of the last 
Congress, 1992 to 1994, a series of education programs were enacted. We 
passed a reauthorization of the Head Start Program. In this act, we 
extended the Head Start education programs to include training programs 
for expectant mothers, and we expanded the early intervention programs.
  Then we passed the Goals 2000 Act to challenge students to a greater 
degree and bring out the best in students. The purpose of Goals 2000 is 
to provide additional funding to local school districts so that 
teachers, school committees, parents, the business community, and other 
community activists who want to improve their local schools, would have 
flexibility to develop new initiatives in terms of curriculum, in terms 
of the time students spend in class, and in terms of additional 
training for teachers. A number of communities have used Goals 2000 
funding to develop local initiatives to improve student achievement.
  We also passed the School-to-Work Program to address the particular 
educational challenges that exist for the three out of four high school 
graduates who do not go on to a 2- or 4-year college and receive a 
college degree. The purpose of the School-to-Work Program was to give 
these students the opportunity to obtain job skills and additional 
educational training that could help them have more useful, productive 
lives. The School-to-Work Program, which has been supported by 
Republican Governors as well as Democratic Governors, was, effectively, 
going to be terminated on the job training bill which we considered in 
conference committee. We should not terminate this important program, 
and we certainly should not terminate it just because it was developed 
by President Clinton.
  So, Mr. President, we have seen in recent times, when we are talking 
about the funding of those programs, support for those programs, a 
dramatic reduction in those programs, and a number of those programs 
have actually been zeroed out.
  It is increasingly clear that our Senate Republicans are so 
embarrassed by their antieducation record that they do not intend to 
bring the education appropriations bill before the full Senate for 
final action before the election. One way or another, either on the 
continuing resolution or on other legislation, the Senate should vote 
on this vital issue so the American people know where we stand.
  American families want good schools and affordable college education. 
They want a brighter tomorrow for their children, and they will not let 
an education-cutting Republican Congress hold them back.
  Republican priorities are also too extreme with regard to Medicare. 
Time and again Republicans in Congress have sought to slash Medicare in 
order to pay for irresponsible tax breaks for the wealthy.

  Medicare is a compact between the Government and the people. It says, 
``Pay into the system during your working years, and we will assure 
that you have affordable health care in your retirement years.''
  Today's senior citizens built the country. They worked hard, raised 
their children, stood up for America during depression and war, and now 
it is America's responsibility to stand by them--to guarantee that 
affordable medical care will be there for them when they need it in 
their retirement years.
  You would think that these are principles that every American 
supports, but not Bob Dole, not Newt Gingrich and the Republicans in 
Congress. Newt Gingrich says he wants Medicare to wither on the vine. 
House majority leader Dick Armey has said Medicare is a program he 
``would have no part of in a free world.'' And last year, Bob Dole said 
again that he is proud to have voted against Medicare when it was first 
enacted. He told the American Conservative Union, ``I was there, 
fighting the fight, voting against Medicare, 1 of 12, because we knew 
it wouldn't work. * * *''
  The Dole-Gingrich Republican budget last year would have slashed 
Medicare by an astounding $270 billion. Medicare premiums would have 
doubled. Medicare deductibles would have doubled. The age of 
eligibility for Medicare would have been raised. Elderly couples would 
have paid an additional $2,400 in increased premiums alone during the 
budget period.
  Republicans pretend that they are not cutting Medicare, just slowing 
its rate of growth. But every American family knows that if your wages 
do not keep up with inflation, your living standard is cut. Every 
family knows that if Medicare payments do not keep up with the cost of 
medical treatment, senior citizens' health care will be cut. And every 
family knows that if Medicare deductibles are doubled, if Medicare 
premiums are doubled, and if Medicare eligibility is postponed, your 
Medicare has been cut.
  Abraham Lincoln once said, ``You can fool some of the people all of 
the time, you can fool all of the people

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some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the 
time.'' Our Republican friends seem to be counting on fooling enough of 
the people enough of the time until November 5--but they are not going 
to succeed.
  The Dole-Gingrich attack on Medicare went even farther. In cahoots 
with the private insurance industry, their scheme was designed to force 
senior citizens to give up Medicare and join HMO's or private insurance 
plans. The Republicans said that their proposal was meant to offer 
greater choice, but senior citizens know that slashing Medicare in 
order to divert billions in profits to private insurers is no choice at 
all.
  Republicans claim that President Clinton and the Democrats are using 
scare tactics on Medicare. But the American people know better. In 
fact, the cost of the lavish new tax breaks that Senator Dole is 
proposing will make even deeper cuts in Medicare more likely.
  Under the Dole-Gingrich plan last year, the Republicans proposed a 7-
year tax cut of $245 billion, paid for by $270 billion in Medicare 
cuts. Under the current Dole economic plan, the tax cut is $681 billion 
over 7 years, almost three times as large as last year's tax cut.
  What about the Medicare cut? It is fair to ask where the cuts are 
going to come from. But still we have silence by Bob Dole on where the 
cuts are going to come from. I say to anyone who cares about Medicare, 
you better keep tuned because, as we have seen, Bob Dole supported the 
tax cut of $245 billion and the Medicare cut of $270 billion. Now he is 
proposing a $681 billion tax cut, and he is silent. You can bet your 
bottom dollar that there are going to be significant cuts in Medicare.
  You do not have to be a mathematical genius to understand that if you 
have to pay for a tax cut three times as great, your Medicare cuts 
would be even greater than in the Republican plan last year. Bob Dole 
is no friend of Medicare and neither is the Republican Party.
  The Dole-Gingrich Republican plan for Medicare makes a mockery of the 
family values they claim to support. I want to point out, on this 
issue, what happened before the election of 1994. In 1994, Majority 
Leader Bob Dole said, ``President Clinton and Vice President Gore are 
resorting to scare tactics . . . falsely accusing Republicans of secret 
plans to cut Medicare benefits.'' That is the statement he made in 
1994, before the last election. And Haley Barbour said, ``The outrage, 
as far as I am concerned, is the Democrat's big lie campaign that the 
Contract With America would require huge Medicare cuts. It would not.'' 
After the election, they proposed $270 billion in Medicare cuts. Bob 
Dole said no, there would not be any cuts. Haley Barbour said no, there 
would be no cuts, and then the Republicans in Congress proposed $270 
billion in Medicare cuts.
  Now Dole has proposed a $681 billion tax cut. We ask him, all right, 
spell it out, where are you going to cut spending? We cannot get an 
answer out of him. And what should the American people expect? They 
ought to understand those cuts will be coming out of Medicare. If the 
cuts don't come out of Medicare, they will come out of other domestic 
programs like education. If he doesn't cut Medicare, the Dole tax cut 
plan would require massive unspecified cuts in domestic investments. If 
Bob Dole says no, it is not going to come in Medicare; it is not going 
to come in defense; it cannot come in interest on the debt; where else 
can he cut? Domestic investments.
  The President is trying to hold harmless the domestic investments, 
particularly in education and in basic research in health care. He has 
indicated education, the environment, Medicare were the three 
priorities.
  Here is the difference in this chart, where the President's balanced 
budget program is. Here is the Republican program for the cuts. If we 
were to enact the Dole tax cut, and if we were to exclude the Medicare 
from cuts, exclude defense, exclude the interest on the debt, then all 
other discretionary domestic spending would be cut from $254 billion 
down to $158--40 to 45 percent in real cuts. Those are cuts in 
education, NIH research, the fuel assistance programs for elderly 
people, and legal service programs.
  Next year, the Congress and the President will need to take serious 
steps to deal with the very real financial problems in Medicare. The 
choice in this election is clear. A Democratic President and a 
Democratic Congress will address that challenge in a way that protects 
senior citizens and improves and strengthens Medicare. A Republican 
Congress and Republican President will put senior citizens and Medicare 
at risk. I believe the American people share our Democratic commitment 
to the Nation's senior citizens, and they will vote accordingly on 
November 5.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Kempthorne). The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. KENNEDY. I ask unanimous consent to proceed for 20 minutes 
without interruption.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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