[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 77 (Wednesday, June 6, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1025]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       ON PASSAGE OF H.R. 1, THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT OF 2001

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                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 6, 2001

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I was pleased to support H.R. 1, a 
bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act. It is a good bill, but it is far from a perfect bill.
  H.R. 1 substantially expands authorized funding levels targeted to 
America's neediest children. I am pleased that this bill excludes 
voucher provisions that would have stripped scarce funds from our 
public schools. Further, keeping out the Straight A's state block grant 
programs was the right thing to do.
  Even though I voted for this bill, I have some strong reservations 
about it that I hope will be worked out in the conference committee. 
First, the new testing requirements in grades three through eight are 
an unfunded mandate by the federal government on our local schools. 
Second, I am deeply disappointed that neither class size reduction nor 
school construction was addressed in this bill.
  I applaud the work of the Education and the Workforce Committee for 
writing a bipartisan bill to strengthen education for all of our 
children. There is much more work to be done, however, to ensure that 
every child in America receives the education they deserve. We need to 
renew our commitment to fully fund special education, lower class 
sizes, and attract and retain qualified, committed teachers. I hope 
H.R. 1 will reflect these priorities.

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