[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 135 (Wednesday, October 25, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10965-S10966]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THE FAILURES OF THIS CONGRESS

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, over the period of the past weeks and 
months, as the ranking member of our Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions Committee, I have tried to point out the failing of this 
Congress and the fact that we have not addressed reauthorization of the 
elementary and secondary education bill, which we are charged to do--we 
had 22 days of hearings and we had a markup and legislation was 
reported out of our committee.
  It has been several months since that legislation was on the floor 
and then withdrawn by the majority leader. In spite of the efforts of 
many of us to bring that measure back on the floor of the Senate, we 
have been unable to do so. We think it is enormously important that we 
have an opportunity to do so.
  We are now some 3 weeks after the date that was suggested that we 
move into the adjournment for this Congress, and we have seen days go 
by, quorum calls held, and still no action. Now pending before the 
committee, we have the bankruptcy legislation, which is going to 
benefit in a substantial way the credit card industry. But we are not 
having the opportunity to address the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act, which can benefit families all across this country, with 
support for State and local communities.
  This issue, I think, is back before the Senate because, during the 
period of our national debate between the Vice President and Governor 
Bush, great attention has been given to the issues of education. 
Assurances were given to the American people representing the different 
positions of the candidates. We have pointed out--I did last week--some 
of the realities and some of the facts about what is happening in our 
public schools across this country. And also I pointed out the fact 
that Texas has not been keeping up with the rest of the country on 
objective tests. That was challenged by some colleagues on the other 
side of the aisle. Now we have the Rand Corporation--virtually a 
nonpartisan organization--which has done a very careful review of the 
Texas experience, and they agree with us and, in effect, agree with 
Vice President Gore on the issues of education.
  I am glad we are getting some clarification. We only have 2 weeks 
left in this campaign, but I am glad we are beginning to get some 
clarification on this issue. First of all, I remind our colleagues 
about what assurances were given to the American people about the 
commitment of our majority leader on the issues of elementary and 
secondary education. We only provide some 7 cents out of every dollar 
that goes into the local communities. States have the primary 
responsibility. Nonetheless, we can give some focus and attention to 
programs that have demonstrated positive results in terms of academic 
achievement and accomplishment. That really is the purpose for which 
these resources are out there, and also to give special emphasis to the 
most economically disadvantaged children in this country so they are 
not going to be left out or left behind.
  We come to this debate and discussion looking over the period of 
recent years. We wonder whether the positions that have been accepted 
by the Republican leadership are very much in conflict with the age-old 
positions of the Republican Party with regard to education, where they 
believe there should not be a role for any Federal aid to education. We 
had that debate in the early sixties. We have had it many times since 
then.
  Nonetheless, we have seen in the early 1990s when the Republican 
leadership assumed control of the Senate the first order of business 
for them was a massive rescission of moneys that had been appropriated 
and were going to be allocated to school districts that would have 
provided help and assistance to needy schools across the country.
  That money had been appropriated by the House and Senate and agreed 
to by the conference, signed by the President of the United States. One 
of the first orders of business by the Republican leadership was to 
rescind that money. We saw a rescission of about $2 billion. The 
initial request was considerably higher. It was reduced, but we had the 
rescission.
  Then in the 1990s we faced the onslaught of our Republican leadership 
who wanted to abolish the Department of Education. I think most Members 
and most parents across the country believe that when the President of 
the United States sits down with the Members at the White House, we 
want someone sitting at the President's elbow when there is a 
discussion and debate about domestic priorities in the United States, 
someone who is always going to say: What about education? What about 
education, Mr. President?
  Those voices are there, appropriately so, in terms of the security 
interests of the United States and defense, for the foreign policy of 
the United States, the Secretary of State. We have them there with 
regard to housing. We have them there in terms of the environment. We 
have them there in terms of commerce and transportation. Many Members 
believe we should have them there with regard to the issues of 
education.
  That was not the position of the Republican leadership. They said: 
No, we don't want to have that there. They tried unsuccessfully to 
eliminate the Department of Education. Nonetheless, we find the 
Department is there. It is considerably downsized. It has had an 
extraordinary record, with great improvement over the previous 
Republican Secretaries of Education in collecting the debts that are 
owed to the Department. They have reduced the student loan default rate 
from 22.4% in 1992 to 6.9% in 2000. Both the guaranteed and student 
loan collections have been much more efficient.
  Now there is a different attitude by the new Republican leadership. 
It is expressed by the Republican leader himself, going back to January 
of 1999:

       Education is going to be a central issue this year. . . . 
     For starters, we must reauthorize the Elementary and 
     Secondary Education Act.

  January 29, 1999:

       But education is going to have a lot of attention, and it's 
     not going to be just words. . . .

  June 22, 1999:

       Education is number one on the agenda for the Republicans 
     in Congress this year. . . .

  Chamber of Commerce, February 1, 2000:

       We're going to work very hard on education. I have 
     emphasized that every year I've been majority leader . . . 
     and Republicans are committed to doing that.

  February 3, 2000:

       We must reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education 
     Act. . . . Education will be a high priority in this 
     Congress.

  May 1, 2000:

       This is very important legislation. I hope we can debate it 
     seriously and have amendments in the education area. Let's 
     talk education.

  May 2, 2000:

       Question: . . . have you scheduled a cloture vote on that?
       Senator Lott: No, I haven't scheduled a cloture vote. . . . 
     But education is number one in the minds of the American 
     people all across this country and every State, including my 
     own State.


[[Page S10966]]


  July 10:

       I, too, would very much like to see us complete the 
     Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

  July 25, 2000:

       We will keep trying to find a way to go back to this 
     legislation this year and get it completed.

  The fact is, for the first time in 35 years we do not have a 
reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. That is 
against the background, Mr. President, of what is happening out there 
across this country and what young children are doing.
  We have challenges in our education system. Here is a chart: ``More 
Students are Taking the SAT.'' That test, by and large, is necessary to 
gain entrance into the colleges; not virtually unanimous, but by and 
large it is required. Look at what has happened since 1980, when 33 
percent of the children took it: 36 percent in 1985; 40 percent in 
1990; 42 percent in 1995; and now in 2000, it is 44 percent.
  This is a reflection of the attitude of children in our high schools. 
The percentage of children taking the SATs is going up significantly. 
The children want to take those tests. They understand the significance 
of the SAT and the importance of a college education. The SAT test is 
demanding. It is hard. It is difficult. Children have to work extremely 
long hours to prepare for these SATs. The increasing numbers of 
students taking the SAT is a clear indication from the children of this 
country that they are serious about education and they want to be able 
to try to improve their academic achievement.
  Not only do we see their willingness to take the most strenuous of 
tests, which are the SATs, but they are also willing to take the 
advanced courses in math and science, probably the most difficult 
courses in our high school.
  We see what has been happening in precalculus: In 1990, 31 percent of 
students enrolled in precalculus; in 2000, 44 percent did. In calculus, 
the rate increased from 19 percent to 24 percent. In physics, 44 
percent to 49 percent. These are the percentage increases of students 
who are taking the advanced courses in these subject matters--all on 
the rise. The number of children who are taking the SAT tests is on the 
rise.
  Let's take a look at the results. We have now more children taking 
the SAT tests. They are taking more demanding courses. What have been 
the results? We see across the board, going back from 1972 and 1975, 
1980, the constant downward movement in terms of results. What we have 
been seeing since 1990 is the gradual, slow--and I admit it has been 
slow, but it is going in one direction, and that is up. There has been 
an improvement in SAT math scores and they are now the highest in 30 
years. More kids are taking them, more kids are doing better. That is 
true across the board in terms of males as well as females.
  We have challenges in our education system. This is a reflection on 
what is happening generally across the country. These are the matters 
the Vice President has talked about, how he wants to strengthen those.
  Now we see what has been happening in the State of Texas. We saw what 
is happening generally across the country, that all the indicators are 
going up. Here we have Texas, falling far below the national average on 
the SAT scores from 1997 to the year 2000.
  I brought this up to the Senate floor last week, and a lot of my 
colleagues were dismissive. But let's look at this. This is the 
national test, the SAT. These are not homegrown tests in Texas and 
homegrown tests in Massachusetts, homegrown in other States. The SAT is 
a national standardized test. I will come back to that in a minute.
  These are the national averages for the SAT test. Notice the national 
average total scores since 1997 has gone up. That, I think, is a clear 
indication that the children, working harder, taking more challenging 
courses, have a greater desire, more of them, to go on to the schools 
and colleges. It is a very definite upward swing, although not great in 
terms of the total numbers. All of us want these higher. However, the 
fact remains that progress has been made and the national average is 
going up.
  But not, Mr. President, in the State of Texas. From 1999 to the year 
2000, we have seen it flatten out. Going back to 1997, scores have 
declined; Texas scores have gone down. It is also interesting that 
Texas scores are well below the national average in the SATs.
  I think this is a pretty fair indication about the facts in the State 
of Texas. With all respect, I am not getting into criticizing the 
Governor or commenting on his desire to try to do better. But I do 
think that when he talks about it and he claims how well Texas is 
doing, it is fair enough to look at the facts and examine whether this 
is so. We have this as a result of these Scholastic Aptitude Tests that 
show Texas is well below the national average, and under Governor Bush 
it hasn't improved on the national average in the last several years, 
at least while he has been Governor.
  These are the earlier facts. Then we have the blockbuster report, the 
Rand Commission report, which basically sustains that argument that the 
schools may not have been making as large of improvements as claimed. 
It has been an important indictment of what has been happening on 
education in the State of Texas.
  Mr. REID. Could I ask the Senator from Massachusetts to yield while 
we do a unanimous consent request, and the Senator as part of the 
request would retain the floor?
  Mr. KENNEDY. I am glad to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Alaska.

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