[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 80 (Monday, June 11, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6020-S6021]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               EDUCATION

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, what has taken place in the Senate over the 
past few weeks, the change from a Republican majority to a Democrat 
majority, is really not about which party is in charge or which party 
is the majority. I believe the history books will be written that it is 
about the truly important issues to the citizens of Nevada, Florida, 
and citizens all over the country.
  The education of our children, for example, is at the top of any 
list. Three of my grandchildren are of school age. As I stand here 
today, Mattie, Savannah, and Ryan are in school--one of them here in a 
suburb of Washington; two of them in Las Vegas. They are each sitting 
in their classrooms. They are so fortunate that they have great 
teachers. They have teachers who are dedicated to putting information 
in their heads and making them feel good about themselves.
  As a grandfather, I want to do all I can to ensure that they receive 
the best education possible and that my other seven grandchildren--and 
I have two additional ones on the way, so that is 12 grandchildren--
will also have the same opportunities and maybe even better 
opportunities than my three grandchildren who are in school today.
  As a Senator representing the State of Nevada, I want to do 
everything I can as a Member of this national legislative body to make 
sure that not only my grandchildren but every child in America has an 
opportunity to be educated in the best way they can. We all have that 
obligation.
  Millions of children across the country are, at this very moment, 
acquiring a foundation that will provide them with enormous 
opportunities. They are acquiring an education. There are also lots of 
children in America who are not being educated in the way they should 
be educated.
  Nevada is an interesting example. We have one school district, Clark 
County School District, where Las Vegas is.
  It is the sixth largest school district in America and fast 
approaching the fifth largest. There are 240,000 children in that 
school district. We have to build, to keep up with the growth, one new 
school every month. This year, we will dedicate about 15 schools. We 
hold the record in America. One year, we dedicated 18 new schools. The 
superintendent of schools has said he is not a superintendent of 
``instruction,'' but a superintendent of ``construction.''
  We need help in this very large school district. We need help. There 
are a number of ways we have tried to get aid to school districts for 
construction, not only to build new schools but to rehabilitate old 
schools.
  The average school in the U.S. today is about 45 years old. We need 
to do

[[Page S6021]]

better in helping large school districts such as Las Vegas. Also, we 
have schools in Nevada that are one-room schools. I went to school in a 
two-room school. There are schools in Nevada today that have one room, 
with five or six students. They also have to be part of what we are 
trying to do to improve education. Millions of children across the 
country may not realize it, but their parents and friends realize, and 
we realize, that there is nothing more important in their lives than to 
be educated.
  So it is with fitting coincidence that the change in the leadership 
in the United States Senate occurs at the very time we are debating the 
education bill. Whether you are a Republican, or a Democrat, or an 
Independent, education is a nonpartisan issue. It should be a 
nonpartisan issue. If it is partisan, it is too bad. The education bill 
is an example of what Senators can accomplish when we work for the good 
of the country in a nonpartisan manner, joining together to ensure that 
every student has a chance to succeed. This bill is a true example of a 
nonpartisan success story. We hope it ends successfully this week. It 
began as the President's bill, was honestly and openly debated under 
Senator Lott and the Republican majority, and now it will be completed 
under the leadership of Senator Daschle and the Democratic majority.
  We all have to work together. I work together with my Republican 
colleague from Nevada, John Ensign, in a way that I hope will serve as 
a model for the rest of this Chamber. In 1998, John Ensign and I were 
involved in a historically close race. I won by 428 votes. People 
thought that John Ensign--when Senator Bryan retired and he ran for the 
Senate--and I would be in a very bitter relationship here in the 
Senate. But we decided for our own well-being, for the well-being of 
the State of Nevada, and for this country, that we should join together 
and show people that Democrats and Republicans from States evenly 
divided as ours is--no matter how the State is divided--can work 
together to set an example. John and I don't have to vote alike on 
everything, but we can work together so that we have a harmonious 
relationship. We are doing that. We are going to get better. We are 
pretty good now, but we are going to get better.
  We have sent the President the judges that John Ensign nominated, and 
I say ``we'' because I appreciate John Ensign submitting those names to 
me. He has agreed to give me 25 percent of the judges we get in Nevada. 
I told him that is one more than I deserve. I appreciate that. It is an 
act of generosity on his part and also an act that depicts our 
relationship. So the mere fact that people have bitter battles on this 
floor does not mean they can't work together tomorrow for the common 
good.
  So I believe that from the 240,000 students in Clark County to the 
one-room schoolhouse in Nye County, all students deserve a quality 
education. We need to work together to finish this bill in a 
nonpartisan way for the children of Nevada. If we get in here in the 
next couple of days and there are difficult issues we have to resolve, 
we have to understand that we can take these issue by issue.

  The overall responsibility we have is to come up with a good 
education bill. Now, I am personally disappointed that we are not going 
to have as much money as I think we should. We have to work with the 
tools we have, and we are going to do that. The education bill is 
legislation about which each Member of this Chamber should leave 
feeling good about. So it is my hope and that of Majority Leader 
Daschle that this legislation is the first of many written not by one 
party, but by Republicans and Democrats.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to proceed using 
as much time as I may consume.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Dayton). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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