[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 141 (Tuesday, October 31, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S11401]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         LABOR-HHS NEGOTIATIONS

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I will use my leader time to depart from 
the ongoing colloquy with regard to the cloture vote on the bankruptcy 
bill to talk about the status of negotiations on the Labor and 
Education bill that has been the subject of a good deal of discussion 
over the last several days.
  I think the headlines give us the current state of affairs with 
regard to the bill probably as succinctly as any headline can. The 
Washington Post, from a front page story above the fold this morning, 
simply stated the fact: ``Budget Deal is Torpedoed by House GOP. Move 
by leadership angers negotiators on both sides.'' That was the 
Washington Post.
  The Los Angeles Times said it as well in their headline: ``GOP 
Leaders Scuttle Deal in Budget Battle.'' They go on to describe exactly 
what happened in the budget battle on education over the course of the 
last several days.
  The Washington Times had virtually the same headline, which simply 
read: ``House Leaders Spike Deal On Budget.''
  The only word missing in most of these is the word ``education.'' 
Because that is what the budget was about, the fight was about what 
kind of a commitment to education we ought to be making in this new 
fiscal year, now well underway. This is the last day of October. Of 
course, the fiscal year began on the first day of October. While the 
headlines didn't say it, this is what they were talking about.
  We had a bipartisan plan that was worked out over the last several 
days with great effort on the part of Chairman Stevens and Chairman 
Young, certainly on the part of Senator Byrd, Senator Harkin, 
Congressman Obey. They worked until 2:30 Monday morning to craft what 
arguably could have been the single most important investment we will 
make in education in any fiscal year in the history of the United 
States. That is quite a profound and dramatic statement. I don't think 
it is hyperbole because we were prepared to invest more in education, 
more in smaller classes, more in qualified teachers, more in modern 
school buildings, more in afterschool programs, with a far better 
accountability program, with increased Pell grants, with more 
investment for children with disabilities and those preparing to go to 
college than we have ever made in a commitment to education in our 
Nation's history. That was what was on the table.
  Of course, as we negotiated these very complicated and controversial 
provisions dealing not only with education but whether or not we can 
protect worker safety, all of those issues had to be considered very 
carefully. It was only with the admonition of all the leaders to give 
and to try to find a way to resolve our differences that we were able 
ultimately to close the deal, resolve the differences, and move forward 
with every expectation that the Senate and House would then be in a 
position to vote on this historic achievement as early as Tuesday 
afternoon.
  That is what happened.
   So instead, today we are debating cloture on the bankruptcy 
conference report when we could have had an incredible opportunity to 
put the pieces together to give children real hope, to give school 
districts all over this country for the first time the confidence they 
need that they can address the myriad of problems they are facing in 
education today; to say, yes, we are going to commit, as we have over 
the last couple years, to ensure we have the resources to reduce class 
size and to hire those teachers and to break through, finally, on 
school modernization and school construction. We could have addressed 
the need for 6,000 new schools with the modernization plan that was on 
the table when the collapse occurred.
  I come to the floor dismayed, disheartened, and extraordinarily 
disappointed that this had to happen, that the House leaders, House 
Republican leaders, spiked a deal that could have created this historic 
achievement.

  What do we tell the schoolteachers? What do we tell the students? 
What do we tell all of those people waiting patiently and expectantly, 
who are hoping we could put partisanship aside and do what we came here 
to do. Forget the rhetoric, forget the conflicts, forget all the things 
we were supposed to forget in bringing this accomplishment about.
  I don't know where we go from here, but this is part of a pattern. It 
isn't just education. There is an array of other issues. And perhaps 
this is an appropriate day to remind my colleagues of, once again, the 
GOP legislative graveyard. We can put up, perhaps, another tombstone 
today.
  I think we can still revive this. Somehow I think there is still a 
possibility that we can do this. I don't know if it will happen this 
week--I don't know when it will happen--but I can't believe we are 
going to turn away from having accomplished what we could have 
accomplished with all of this.
  Everybody understands that we may not have another chance. I am not 
prepared to put education into the legislative graveyard Republicans 
have created. But there isn't much chance we are going to deal with pay 
equity this year. There is no chance we are going to deal with campaign 
finance reform.
  Let us make absolutely certain that when we come back early next 
year, we enact the Patients' Bill of Rights. That is a tombstone for 
the 106th Congress. Hate crimes, judicial nominations, the Medicare 
drug benefit, gun safety: all are tombstones to inaction. All are a 
recognition of the failure of this Congress to come to grips with the 
real problems our country is facing, a realization that now there is 
not much we can do anything about, except to rededicate ourselves to 
ensure that we will never let this Congress again take up issues of 
this import and leave them buried in the legislative graveyard.
  Let us hope that we can revive school modernization and smaller class 
size. Let us hope that somehow, in the interest of doing what is 
right--we recognize how close we were Monday night, we recognize how 
important it is that we not give up, we recognize how critical it is 
that something as important as education will not be relegated to this 
legislative graveyard, or any other. Let us hope that in the interest 
of our children, in the interest of recognizing the importance of 
bipartisan achievement in this Congress, that we will do what is right, 
that we will take these headlines and turn them around and change them 
into headlines such as ``GOP Leaders And Democratic Leaders Agree on 
Budget Deal,'' or ``Democratic Leaders And Republican Leaders Agree To 
Historic Education Achievement''; with editorials that would say to the 
effect that, at long last, we have given children hope all over this 
country and we have given schools the opportunity to reduce their class 
size and improve educational quality without exception.
  That is still within our grasp. I must say, the tragedy of all 
tragedies would be, somehow in the name of partisanship and in the name 
of whatever competition some may feel with the administration on this 
or any other issue, that we fail to do what is right; we fail to make a 
commitment that we know we can; and that we end up building more 
monuments to the lack of progress and real commitment to the issues 
about which people care most.
  Mr. President, I come to the floor with the expectation that we can 
overcome the obstacles that remain and we truly can make a difference 
on education in this Congress.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota is recognized.
  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I thank the minority leader for his 
words.
  I yield 10 minutes to the Senator from North Dakota, Mr. Dorgan.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota is recognized.

                          ____________________