[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 29 (Wednesday, February 24, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S1962]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             EDUCATION FLEXIBILITY PARTNERSHIP ACT OF 1999

 Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I ask that a statement I submitted to 
the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on the 
committee's markup of S. 280, the Education Flexibility Partnership Act 
of 1999, be printed in the Record.
  The statement follows:

       Mr. Chairman, improving our nation's schools is clearly a 
     crucial task and one deserving of the committee's time and 
     attention. However, I regret that the committee has chosen to 
     proceed with the consideration of Senator Frist's Ed Flex 
     bill today, just a scant hour after two of this century's 
     most important Senate votes.
       The Senate is currently engaged in the conduct of our most 
     serious constitutional duty--the impeachment trial of the 
     President. Rightfully, this undertaking has engaged all of 
     our time and energy. Beyond our required attendance on the 
     Senate floor, we have also each been engaged in party 
     conferences, smaller group discussions with our colleagues 
     and other meetings crucial to the Senate's consideration. 
     Today, in particular, was a crucial moment in this 
     proceeding, with two historic votes on continuing the trial. 
     These votes necessitated further discussions and meetings in 
     search of a consensus on how to proceed.
       And yet, in the midst of this turmoil, the committee chose 
     to go forward with this mark up. I believe this step was both 
     inappropriate and unwise. Education and the other issues 
     before our committee are too important to move forward 
     without our full attention and involvement. We need the 
     opportunity to thoughtfully examine Ed Flex and other 
     proposals, consider changes and discuss these issues with 
     each other and our staffs. Without this level of involvement, 
     the chances for moving strong, bipartisan legislation with 
     any hope of passage diminish significantly.
       I recognize that putting these matters aside until the 
     impeachment trial is a settled matter is particularly 
     difficult when discussing education. We all care a great deal 
     about education and improving our schools. And we all know, 
     contrary to what we have all been doing since we got here in 
     January, education is the work we were sent here to do by our 
     constituents.
       In addition, the measure before the committee today, the 
     Education Flexibility Partnership bill, is one that we all 
     spent a great deal of time on last year. I personally offered 
     three amendments and worked cooperatively and extensively 
     with Senator Frist to improve the underlying language of the 
     bill throughout the committee's consideration. Ultimately, I 
     voted for the bill, but had significant reservations, which I 
     expressed in my additional views to the committee report.
       Unfortunately, nothing in these intervening months has 
     happened to allay my concerns. We have had no hearing on this 
     demonstration program or this bill. There continues to be 
     basically no data on gains in student achievement--the 
     central goal of the Ed Flex program. We continue to consider 
     this legislation outside of the context of the Elementary and 
     Secondary Education Act, where it rightly belongs. We have 
     had two GAO reports raising fundamental issues about the Ed 
     Flex program. We have yet to consider other significant 
     proposals for reform in our schools. And, yet, in moving 
     forward today, the committee is clearly intent on proceeding 
     without addressing or considering these concerns.
       Mr. Chairman. I remain convinced that you and Senator Frist 
     are committed to working in a bipartisan fashion on this bill 
     and in developing strong education policy generally. It is 
     clear this is only path by which we can get things done. But 
     bipartisanship is hard work that demands substantive 
     engagement by members. In my view, there was clearly not the 
     time or opportunity to do so, today, with the Senate so 
     rightfully occupied with impeachment.
       I look forward to the days, hopefully in the near future, 
     where we can turn our full attention to this bill and our 
     committee's full agenda.

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