[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 83 (Thursday, June 14, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6307-S6312]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT

  Mr. DODD. Madam President, I want to spend some time talking about 
the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965, which we passed just a few minutes ago.
  First, I commend my friend and colleague from Massachusetts, the 
chairman of the committee, for his continuing leadership in the area of 
education. Senator Kennedy has been a tireless champion of children and 
families and is now into his fifth decade here in the Senate. He has no 
equal when it comes to his passion for serving those in need, and 
demonstrated that passion once again during his management of this bill 
over the past 6 or 7 weeks.
  I also want to join with those who have commended our colleague, 
Senator Jeffords of Vermont. Senator Jeffords is the former chairman of 
this committee. We were elected to Congress together more than a 
quarter century ago. He has been a wonderful friend and fellow New 
Englander and in large part is responsible for the outlines of the bill 
just adopted by a substantial vote. In his quiet way, Jim Jeffords made 
a very profound and strong imprint on this legislation.
  Although much attention has been focused on political events over the 
last few weeks associated with our colleague from Vermont, that should 
not overshadow his substantive commitment to the quality of education 
in this country, and this reauthorization of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act is one of the finest examples of his efforts 
over the years. So I commend him for his work.
  I thank my friend from New Hampshire, Senator Gregg, who is a 
tremendously bright and articulate Member of this body. We have our 
differences, but there is no more engaging Member, no one with whom I 
more enjoy debating a subject. He is knowledgeable and deeply committed 
to these issues. He has very strong views, but is a very fair 
individual, and he did a very fine job here on the floor. Other 
members, also have been very involved in this legislation, such as 
Senator Frist of Tennessee, who cares deeply about these issues;

[[Page S6308]]

Joe Lieberman, Evan Bayh, and Mary Landrieu; and especially other 
members of the committee on which I served--Tom Harkin, Jack Reed, 
Patty Murray, Barbara Mikulski, Jeff Bingaman, and our new colleagues, 
Senator Clinton from New York, and Senator Edwards. Also, Susan 
Collins, and Tim Hutchinson from Arkansas. Paul Wellstone has offered 
many amendments in committee as well as on the floor, expressing his 
strong appetite for improving the quality of public education in 
America. Certainly, Tom Daschle, the distinguished majority leader, has 
been deeply involved in this debate and discussion over the last number 
of weeks and deserves a great deal of credit, along with Harry Reid, 
for keeping the battle moving forward and the debate moving forward 
over these last days of the debate.

  I thank Trent Lott, former majority leader, now minority leader, for 
his work as well.
  I am sure that I left some people out here, including the Presiding 
Officer, the distinguished Senator from Michigan, Ms. Stabenow, who has 
also been deeply involved in education matters for many years--long 
before she arrived as a new Member of this body, in her work in the 
other Chamber, and in her home State of Michigan on behalf of children 
and families. I thank her for her work as well. And, Senator Biden, 
with whom I offered my comparability amendment, along also with Senator 
Reed.
  Madam President, this is not a bill I would have written. Nor is it 
one that I expect our Republican friends would have written, were we 
allowed to write our own version of a framework for elementary and 
secondary education. This is a compromise bill. There are parts of it 
about which I am very excited and others about which I am disappointed. 
This is not an uncommon reaction when a final vote on major legislation 
is called for.
  But we are not through the process. This is step 1 for us. The other 
body has adopted its version of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act, and now we will meet in conference, to work out the differences 
between these two bills.
  I believe our collective work over the past couple of months has 
greatly improved the bill, and that is why I voted for it. 
Nevertheless, I hope that it will come back from conference a stronger 
bill.
  This bill will target resources to the neediest students in our 
country. It will make sure that classrooms are run by well-qualified 
teachers, and it will provide options to parents. Those are wonderful 
improvements over the status quo. I heard my friend from Utah say this 
bill was nothing more than the status quo. That is not the case.
  There also were many important amendments adopted, in many cases with 
broad bipartisan support.
  Senator Harkin and Senator Hagel put together what may be the most 
important amendment adopted in this bill, mandating full funding of the 
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. After 26 years of waiting, 
communities, parents, teachers, and students finally will receive full 
funding of special education. This is a major achievement.
  I am very proud of the fact Senator Collins and I were able to get 79 
votes for full funding of title I over the next 10 years. I hope that 
we can fully fund it more rapidly than that, but I believe, and my 
colleague from Massachusetts who has a wonderful historical memory of 
this law over the years may know, this is the first time we ever voted 
to fully fund title I, I am proud of this action.
  Senator Kennedy's amendment will increase the number of qualified 
teachers in our classrooms. That is a major achievement.
  Senator Wellstone's amendment ensures that the tests States develop 
to comply with this bill will be of high quality.
  Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas won strong bipartisan support to 
increase support for bilingual education.
  Our colleague from California, Senator Boxer, won support, I joined 
with her, to increase resources to provide children with productive 
afterschool programs.
  Senator Reed of Rhode Island deserves great credit for providing 
school libraries with desperately needed resources.
  The amendment of our colleague from Illinois, Senator Durbin, will 
strengthen math and science partnerships. That improves the bill 
tremendously as well.
  I was also pleased the Senate rejected efforts to include private 
school vouchers in this bill by a significant vote. Not out of any 
negative feelings about private education, but because with 50 million 
children in public schools and 5 million in private schools, resources 
are hard to come by, and we must do our best to improve the quality of 
public education.
  I am pleased as well the Senate accepted an amendment I offered, 
along with the support of the chairman of the committee and others, for 
the professional development of early childhood educators.
  Also, the amendment I offered with Senator Shelby of Alabama to 
protect student privacy was accepted by voice vote.
  For children to be ready for school and to learn to read, their early 
childhood educators must have the training to help them develop 
intellectually and socially, and this amendment contributes to that 
goal.
  The amendment I offered with Senator Shelby of Alabama to protect 
student privacy also was accepted by voice vote.
  This amendment will ensure parents have the right to decide whether 
their children will be asked personal questions by marketeers for 
commercial purposes during school time.
  This is a growing phenomenon, one that is a growing concern of mine, 
that classrooms are becoming market testing grounds. It is hard enough 
to educate a child. I do not think parents expect their children to 
become the subject of marketing surveys in school. Parents wouldn't 
tolerate this happening in their homes without their permission and 
they should not have to tolerate it in their children's schools without 
permission.

  Businesses can be great partners in the educational system. They have 
a vested interest in a well-educated workforce. But the extent to which 
and how they are involved is something about which we all ought to be 
conscious.
  But, I do have significant concerns about this bill. I am 
disappointed that it does not include funds dedicated to reducing class 
size and repairing crumbling schools. We know that these things improve 
student achievement and we will continue to fight for them.
  I also am disappointed we adopted the Helms amendment, which 
purported to be about ensuring the Boy Scouts access to public school 
facilities, a right already guaranteed them by the United States 
Supreme Court.
  The Boy Scouts have a long tradition of doing wonderful things for 
America's young men, but unfortunately the Helms amendment, in my view, 
effectively puts the Senate on record as approving the exclusionary 
policies of the Boy Scouts and other organizations, and that is a sad 
commentary as we enter the 21st century.
  Most of all, I am concerned that while this bill demands 
accountability for low-income schools and school districts, and 
establishes the goal of funding title I, we still have not received a 
commitment from the President or our Republican colleagues to provide 
the resources for Title I, special education, and other parts of this 
bill.
  I would have hoped that by now the President would have said there 
will be full funding of these programs during his administration. He 
has, for whatever reasons, decided not to make that commitment. I am 
still hopeful he will. That will go a long way in alleviating my 
concerns about whether or not these reforms are going to give these 
children an opportunity to compete on a level playing field with other 
children who have the tools that will allow them to succeed. It does 
not guarantee success, but it is an opportunity to succeed.
  We have an obligation at every level, Federal, State, and local, to 
see to it that all kids have a chance to succeed. It is important, if 
this bill is going to reach its potential, to have the resources we 
will need to give kids that chance.
  That has not yet happened, and I am very uneasy as we go into the 
conference about whether or not those commitments will be forthcoming. 
If

[[Page S6309]]

we end up with nothing but tests and standards and leave needy children 
in this country in rural and urban areas without the resources to 
benefit from real reforms, then we will end up with a self-fulfilling 
prophecy of children who fail tests, which will be taken as a further 
indictment of public education.
  I know I am not alone in this concern. The chairman of the committee 
has expressed this feeling over and over, and I am hopeful that as this 
debate proceeds over the coming weeks, the commitments we have asked 
for with regard to resources will be forthcoming.
  And, finally, I am disappointed the Senate did not adopt an amendment 
which I offered along with Senator Biden and Senator Reid, with strong 
support of almost half of the Senate, calling for comparable 
educational opportunity services for all children within a State. We 
have done that for 36 years within school districts. Some districts 
have more students than 27 States in this country. For 36 years, they 
have been able to provide a comparable educational opportunity. I think 
States ought to meet that same criteria. This bill demands greater 
accountability from students, parents, teachers, school boards, and the 
Federal Government--the only entity we exclude from that is the States. 
I am disappointed that amendment was not adopted.
  But, again, to conclude these remarks, my hat is off to the chairman 
of the committee, to Jim Jeffords, as I mentioned earlier, for his 
work, to the members of our committee, going right on down the line to 
the most junior member, Senator Clinton of New York. Also, our 
Republican colleagues, including Judd Gregg, Bill Frist, Susan Collins, 
Tim Hutchinson and the others, who worked hard to make this a better 
bill. While we disagreed and I had strong arguments with them on many 
points, my respect for them is in no way diminished. In fact, if 
anything, it is enhanced by their commitment.
  We are all trying to do our best for the children of this country and 
I hope that in the weeks ahead, we will be able to improve this bill 
further. Again, I thank the chairman of the committee and his staff and 
all of our staffs.
  I will include all the names of people here. They worked so hard. 
From Senator Kennedy's staff, Michael Myers, Danica Petroshius, Jane 
Oates, Roberto Rodriguez, Michael Dannenberg, Dana Fiordaliso, and Ben 
Cope. From my staff, Lloyd Horwich, Shawn Maher, Jeanne Ireland, Grace 
Reef, Sheryl Cohen, and John Carwell.
  Bev Schroeder and Katie Corrigan of Senator Harkin's staff, Bethany 
Little of Senator Murray's staff, Elyse Wasch and Michael Yudin with 
Senator Reed, Jill Morningstar and Jay Barth with Senator Wellstone, 
and Ann O'Leary with Senator Clinton.
  Also, Carmel Martin and Dan Alpert with Senator Bingaman, Kimberly 
Ross with Senator Mikulski, and Crystal Bennett, with Senator Edwards.
  Mark Powden, Sherry Kaiman, and Andy Hartman with Senator Jeffords. 
Michele Stockwell with Senator Lieberman, Elizabeth Fay with Senator 
Bayh, and Kathleen Strottman with Senator Landrieu.
  I also want thank the staff on the other side, especially Denzel 
McGuire and Stephanie Monroe, with Senator Gregg, Holly Kuzmich with 
Senator Hutchinson, Maureen Marshall with Senator Collins, and Andrea 
Becker with Senator Frist.
  And, I want to thank Joan Huffer with Senator Daschle and David Crane 
and John Mashburn with Senator Lott, and Sandy Kress and Townsend 
McNitt, of the White House staff, for all of their help.
  I remember Senator Kennedy and I were up one Saturday morning weeks. 
We were in the building, walking around, and happened to see a door 
open. We walked in and there were the staffs, trying to work out 
differences and work out language in the bill. We offer the amendments, 
we get the attention, we appear before the cameras, but it is the 
staffs of our offices who do tremendous work and develop great 
understanding of these issues.
  I thank Senator Kennedy's staff, my own staff, the staff of the 
others, both majority and minority for the tremendous effort and time 
they put in to make this a better bill.
  With that, Madam President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, I want to, first, express appreciation 
to many of our colleagues and friends and then say a very brief word 
about what I think this bill is really about.
  I want to start off by thanking the extraordinary staffs, mine and 
those of the members of our committee, Democrats and Republicans alike. 
We are enormously blessed to have men and women who are committed and 
dedicated to trying to strengthen the educational system of this 
country. To a great extent I hope they feel some satisfaction this 
evening with the completion of this legislation.
  As has been pointed out by my friend Senator Dodd, we had areas of 
differences but there was no real difference in our desire to send a 
very clear message, which tonight we are sending to families all across 
this country, that help is on the way.
  The legislation that was passed a short while ago was not a 
Democratic bill or a Republican bill; it was an education bill. Stated 
very clearly with this extraordinary vote--91 votes in favor of this 
legislation--this Senate is committed to the future of this country. 
That is what this is about. It is about the hopes and dreams of 
children, their desire to excel in athletics and sports, but also in 
the classrooms. When they have exciting and innovative and creative 
teachers, when they have interesting curricula and it is all well 
taught and supported by parents--all of that is really about the future 
of America.
  This vote this evening is a clear manifestation of what has been 
happening over the past days on the floor of the Senate. Democrats and 
Republicans were coming together on this central issue, the core issue, 
the first issue for American families. All parents understand the 
importance of children's dreams. We realize, really, the greatest 
limitation on those children's dreams is the failure to provide the 
opportunity for those children's minds to be as expansive as they 
possibly can be, to be interested and informed, benefitting from 
educational opportunities which, hopefully, we have strengthened in 
this legislation.
  First, I thank Denzel McGuire and Stephanie Monroe of Senator Gregg's 
office; Holly Kuzmich of Senator Hutchinson's staff; Maureen Marshall 
of Senator Collins' staff; David Crane and John Mashburn of Senator 
Lott's staff; Mark Powden and Sherry Kaiman of Senator Jeffords' staff; 
Lloyd Horwich of Senator Dodd's staff; Carmel Martin and Dan Alpert of 
Senator Bingaman's staff; and Elizabeth Fay of Senator Bayh's staff; 
Michelle Stockwell of Senator Lieberman's staff.
  I also thank Sandy Kress, who has been enormously helpful to all of 
us in the Senate, Democrats and Republicans alike, representing the 
President. She is a person who understands the President's views very 
completely. She is a forceful fighter for the position of the 
President. But as I said on many occasions, she doesn't always say no. 
She understands the importance of attempting to fight for the position 
of the President. I thank as well Townsend McNitt of the White House 
staff as well, who was enormously valuable and helpful to us.
  I thank Secretary Paige for his work. Secretary Paige really set the 
tone for this legislation. At the time of his swearing in, I asked if 
he would be good enough to come up and meet with all the Democrats. He 
came up for a meeting. We had very good attendance. I think almost our 
whole Democratic caucus was in attendance. He stayed there until the 
last question was asked. It was a very impressive presentation. Since 
that time, he has been available and accessible to all of us on matters 
with which we were concerned.
  I could not possibly have made much difference in this effort 
without, really, the tireless work of my own staff: Jane Oates, Michael 
Dannenberg, and Roberto Rodriguez, for their indispensable roles--all 
of our staff, of whom I am so proud. They are superb professionals who 
take great pride in their work, as they should, and as I do in them.
  My thanks go to Jim Manley for his able assistance; Danica 
Petroshius, Dana Fiordaliso, and Ben Cope for the amazing support over 
the weeks--most of all to Danica Petroshius, whose leadership, energy, 
and vision has made all

[[Page S6310]]

the difference. I thank Danica so much. Her friendship I value greatly.
  I am very fortunate for in our staff we have not only great 
professionals, but they are also great friends. We have a good 
opportunity to work together. I am not always sure they felt that way 
for every moment over these past 8 weeks, but I want them to know that 
is the way I felt about them.
  Let me thank also our colleagues who were really indispensable. One 
of the things that makes it so satisfying to work on our committee, as 
well as being productive, is there is a great coming together by 
Democrats and Republicans.
  I think the markups were enormously spirited with very good debate 
and discussion of different viewpoints. But there is a great deal of 
respect for the opinions of each other. In our committee we have tried 
to work out some special responsibilities. All members have had great 
commitment in the area of education.
  Of course, when we think of Senator Dodd, we think of the children's 
caucus and all the good work he has done in those areas, particularly 
in the afterschool programs.
  Tom Harkin: We think of his efforts to make sure we are going to have 
modern classrooms for our children.
  Senator Mikulski has been singular in her work in trying to focus on 
the digital divide to make sure we are not going to have the 
disparities in the digital divisions what we have had in educational 
divisions. She has been light-years ahead of the rest of us in 
understanding this and in helping us to try to minimize it.
  Jeff Bingaman knows more about accountability than any other Member 
and has been such a leader in this area.
  Senator Wellstone has been so passionate on so many different issues. 
I can think of his contributions, particularly on this legislation, to 
try to make sure we address the quality of our testing and to make sure 
that children are going to be treated fairly and equitably. I know he 
has serious reservations about many of these provisions. Our committee 
is so much the better for having Senator Wellstone, as is the Senate.
  Jack Reed comes from a long tradition of interest in education, not 
only since he has been in the Senate but also as a House Member. He 
follows in the Senate Claiborne Pell, who was chairman of our Education 
Committee. Senator Reed understands the importance of quality education 
and the importance of parental involvement, and also the recognition of 
libraries as a special priority to children. I still think we missed 
some important opportunities in being able to adopt some of the Reed 
amendments because we are enhancing dramatically the reading programs 
which the President has stood behind. We need good, effective libraries 
over the long range. Jack Reed understands this.
  Senator Murray--I can still hear her eloquent pleas for us to go to 
smaller class size--as a former schoolteacher, brings dimension to our 
education issues which are unique. Senator Edwards, who is so much 
involved in the development of the education policy in North Carolina, 
which has really been singular in its achievement, shared with us these 
extraordinary lessons and made valuable contributions.
  Senator Clinton probably has spent more time in schools in New York 
and as much as any Member of the Senate has spent time in schools, 
learning and speaking. Of course, we were advantaged by the fact that 
when she arrived on our committee, she already had a lifetime of 
involvement in children's issues and educational issues. Since she 
arrived on that committee, from the first day we benefited from her 
experience.
  I also thank Connie Garner of my staff for her tireless dedication. 
She has worked on issues involving the disabilities questions. She left 
a sickbed. She was there 3 weeks ago in a very important medical 
condition, from which she has recovered. But she was quick to put aside 
the attention to her own health in order to be in here and be with us 
on these debates on matters dealing with disability. She is the proud 
mother of eight, at last count. Connie is the proud mother of a 
disabled child, and she has made an extraordinary mark on disability 
policy.

  I want to finally thank the one who pulled all of this together for 
our committee, Michael Myers, with whom I have had the good opportunity 
to work on many different policy issues for years, starting with 
refugees years and years ago, longer than he may want to remember. He 
has the extraordinary ability to make a lot of different issues, policy 
questions, and problems a great deal easier. He is a problem solver 
with rare qualities. In an undertaking such as we had, he was 
absolutely, extraordinarily valuable.
  I thanked earlier Senator Jeffords and spoke about his very special 
contributions.
  I also thank Senator Gregg, who has spent a good deal of time here on 
the floor. I always enjoy working with him--more often when we agree 
than when we disagree. But it is always a pleasure.
  Senator Frist--who has worked on education--and I have worked closely 
together on health care.
  I thank Senator Hutchison, Senator Collins, and other members of our 
committee.
  We had the benefit also of Senator Lieberman and Senator Bayh. 
Senator Bayh took special interest in education as a Governor. After 
being Governor, he brought those interests here to the Senate. He is 
not a member of our committee but is as thoughtful about issues on 
education as one can possibly imagine. Senator Lieberman has made 
education one of his great areas of specialization and has been both an 
enormously helpful and valuable ally as we have pursued this issue.
  I thank all of the outside groups who have worked with us. We tried 
to communicate as much as we possibly could as we were working through 
this process. We tried to do as good a job as we could. I thought we 
did a decent job. I am sure there are people to whom we owe an apology. 
I extend that apology. If we weren't able to get to you, or answer your 
questions on some of these matters, we will take the opportunity now 
and invite those who are concerned about this to examine this bill and 
to give us their ideas as we go to the conference. We are very grateful 
for all of the outside help and assistance we had.
  I commend all the students, parents, and teachers who left an 
indelible mark on this legislation, and thank them for their commitment 
and willingness to put aside the divisions of the past and find 
constructive compromise to improve education for all students and all 
public schools across the country. It is a good bill. It has strong 
support.
  I thank the floor staff, who are always available to us and who are 
invaluable in working through complex and difficult situations on the 
floor. They have been absolutely superb, wonderful professionals.
  Finally, I thank Senator Harry Reid who was absolutely instrumental. 
He is not on our committee, but I think at the end of these 8 weeks he 
knows more about education than perhaps he intended to at the start of 
this legislation. He is learning more about every bill because there 
isn't an ally--having been here as long as I have been and having had 
the good fortune to be a floor manager of legislation--there is no one 
who has greater value as a floor manager than the Senator from Nevada. 
He has extraordinary skills, and he uses them in amazing ways. He was 
able to get things achieved and move this process along. People might 
ask, Well, how much of a difference does it make? It makes the 
difference between success and failure. Make no mistake about it, it 
makes the difference between success and failure. And we would not be 
here with that success in terms of the strong support of the Members of 
this body tonight had it not been for my friend and colleague, Senator 
Reid. I am enormously grateful to him for all of his good work. I thank 
him for all he has done. We look forward to seeing him in harness next 
week on the Patients' Bill Of Rights. And hopefully he will be able to 
dispose of those 300 amendments, as he was able to dispose of the 300 
amendments that were offered to this bill and get us to final passage.

  Finally, I thank the clerks and also all the pages for their help and 
assistance during this time.
  Mr. REID. Will the Senator yield?
  Mr. KENNEDY. I will be glad to yield.
  Mr. REID. I was not coming to hear the laudatory remarks of the 
Senator, but I appreciate having heard them. It

[[Page S6311]]

is not often in the Senate we have the opportunity to say good things 
about each other; We are busy trying to get an amendment adopted or 
give a speech we need to give, and all the things we need to do.
  But I cannot help but reflect on the time I have had to spend with 
the Senator from Massachusetts on this bill because my mind goes back 
to when I was just a boy, a student at Utah State University. I say to 
the Senator, your brother was running for President, and I was enthused 
about helping him. I was in Republican territory, Utah State University 
in Logan, UT. So I formed at that university a young Democratic club: 
Young Democrats. And one of the prize possessions I have in the world 
is a letter written by John Kennedy after that successful election. I 
have it hanging on the wall in my office in the Hart Building, where he 
acknowledged we formed this club and perhaps helped him a little bit.
  I told the Senator the first day I came to the Senate what an honor 
it was for me to serve with Ted Kennedy, a person who is one of the 
well-known people of the world, who has been such an example for how 
you deal with your family for all of us.
  For me, on a personal basis, I say to the Senator, to be able to 
legislate with you has been a dream of a lifetime. And then to have the 
senior Senator from Massachusetts say some nice things about me is even 
something that I never dreamed would happen. So there is mutual 
admiration. I appreciate the Senator's nice remarks.
  Mr. KENNEDY. I thank the Senator and yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, I did not have the opportunity to hear 
all of the remarks made by our distinguished colleagues, but I also 
come to the floor to congratulate our colleague, Senator Kennedy, for 
the remarkable job he has done in getting us to this point. I think it 
is fair to say--I hope the country understands this--this bill would 
not be where it is today, we would not have passed it 91-8, if it were 
not for his persistence, his incredible leadership, and the ability he 
has to once again bring both sides together.
  I have had the good fortune now to work with our colleague from 
Massachusetts on so many things, and I am awed, I am inspired, and I 
am, indeed, grateful for his friendship and for the extraordinary 
leadership he provides. So I thank him and congratulate him in 
particular.
  Let me also congratulate our colleague, Senator Jeffords. He has gone 
through a very difficult period. He began by providing us with 
leadership on the Republican side as we took up this piece of 
legislation--now as an Independent, caucusing with us. He has voted and 
supported this legislation all the way through. His leadership, his 
commitment, his work also deserve special recognition.
  He is not in the Chamber at this time, but I just want to say, on 
behalf of the entire Senate, we thank him for what he has done and the 
manner in which he has done it.
  Of course, there are many others who have been very active. I cite 
especially Senator Lieberman and Senator Bayh for their efforts in 
working with Senator Kennedy. They have been extraordinary in their 
efforts to find common ground.
  We started in our caucus in some ways divided. We ended this whole 
debate more unified on education than we have been in a long time, and 
it is in part because of the work they have done.
  Senator Dodd, with his passion, his commitment, deserves special 
recognition as well. I salute him for the efforts he made to find ways 
to address the concerns he has with the bill. I thank him for his 
participation.
  Let me finally say, as Senator Kennedy has, and others have already 
noted, the one person who is not on the HELP Committee who probably had 
as much to do with getting this job done as anybody has--or ever will 
on a piece of legislation--is our assistant Democratic leader. You can 
only love Harry Reid if you know him. And I don't know of anybody who 
does not love him and have the affection for him that I do. He once 
again demonstrated his value not only to our caucus but to the Senate 
and to the country with the manner and the tremendous ability he 
demonstrates in working with us each and every day. He is the single 
best person any manager could ever hope to have as they work to try to 
resolve outstanding differences, scheduling conflicts, and the array of 
challenges we face in trying to work through any bill.
  So I acknowledge and congratulate our dear friend, Senator Harry 
Reid, our assistant Democratic leader, for the work he has done in 
getting us to this point.
  I will have a number of matters to raise as we prepare to close, 
Madam President, but at this point I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
  Mr. REID. Madam President, before the Senator from South Dakota, the 
majority leader, leaves the Chamber, on behalf of Senator Kennedy and 
myself, I would like to acknowledge, Mr. Leader, that it is nice you 
said good things about us--and we really appreciate it--but everyone 
should know, especially the people in South Dakota, that when things 
got rough out here, we always had to turn to you.
  We were able to do a lot of things. We had a good time working 
together. We enjoyed our partnership. But when it came time to make the 
really tough decisions, we had to turn to you.
  I would like to say this is the first real week of your leadership as 
majority leader. I hope this is a message of things to come because we 
were able, on a bipartisan basis--this was not the Democratic 
leadership pushing things through. We had to turn to you, and when it 
really got tough, we were able to work this out. There was no better 
example of that than today. It is a small miracle we finished today.
  We had to go back to the office, bring you out here, and as a result 
of that, it was above our pay grade--Senator Kennedy and I--but it 
certainly is not above your pay grade. As I have said so many times--
and I appreciate your kind remarks about me --neither one of us could 
have made this bill happen but for you.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Will the Senator yield?
  Mr. REID. Yes.
  Mr. KENNEDY. I don't think we called on him more than 25 times a day, 
asking him to come out here to help us out.
  But in a serious way, I just underline what Senator Reid has said: 
The ultimate credit for this achievement is with the leader of the 
Senate; that is, our new leader and our friend, Senator Daschle. I 
think all of us understand that is what leadership is really about. We 
were able to get this done and done in a bipartisan way.
  Senator Daschle announced when he assumed the leadership the way he 
wanted this institution to be run, and that is the way it was run. 
Members all through this debate were able to have their views either 
voted on or considered, unfettered by parliamentary gimmicks. The abuse 
of parliamentary technique was not in play. There was full, open, frank 
debate and discussion and accountability. It is a breath of fresh air 
in terms of the functioning of this body. It is really what I think 
most of us believe this body is really all about.
  It is a real honor and pleasure to know Tom Daschle is leading this 
institution. I thank him for his words.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, I also express my appreciation for all 
who have been involved in this bill.
  I say to Senator Kennedy, a number of people on this side of the 
aisle have expressed their appreciation for your leadership. You are a 
great advocate, but also you manage a bill very well.
  Mr. KENNEDY. I thank the Senator.
  Mr. SESSIONS. The process that we utilized worked well. Everybody got 
their votes and got their say. Matters went along fine.
  President Bush, as a Governor, committed to doing something about 
education in his State. He was hands on in that effort. As a result, he 
knew something about education when he ran for President. He determined 
that it would not be business as usual. He was convinced that children 
were being left behind, that they were finding themselves in seventh, 
eighth, and ninth grades unable to do basic education work, and 
tragedies were in store for them. He got to know some outstanding 
individuals in education in

[[Page S6312]]

Texas. One was Dr. Rod Paige, the superintendent of the Houston school 
system, 207,000 students, one of the largest in America.
  Secretary Paige had made some real progress there. When he took over 
in 1995 in that school system, he found only 37 percent of the students 
were passing the basic Texas test. He had been the dean of a school of 
higher education. He determined that they could do better, and he 
insisted that they do better. In 5 years, he doubled that number--1 
percentage point from doubling --to 73 percent passing.
  President Bush saw that. He appreciated that achievement. He was 
determined to try to bring that kind of progress throughout America. 
That is why he selected Dr. Rod Paige as his Secretary of Education.
  Dr. Paige eliminated social promotion. He improved testing. He 
cracked down on schools that did not work, and he cracked down on 
discipline problems. It was a real achievement of an extraordinary 
degree that should give us all hope that we can make much better 
progress with education than we think.
  My wife taught. I have been in 20 schools this year. There are 
teachers around this country teaching their hearts out every day, 
giving their level best to education. If we can create a system that 
nurtures them and allows their talents to flourish and not be clamped 
down by rules and regulations and such, I believe we have the potential 
for extraordinary progress in education.
  Finally, I note that testing is critical because if you love children 
and you care about them and you do not want them to fall behind, you 
will find out how they are doing. The parents need to know. The 
teachers need to know. The principals need to know. Everybody needs to 
know whether learning is occurring.
  When a child is falling behind in basic reading and math--and they 
will have to be tested in this program--then you can deal with it. If 
we let them get to junior high, high school, ninth grade, typically, 
and they can't do basic math and can't read effectively, they drop out. 
That is a great tragedy. They will be left behind. We should not allow 
that.
  This bill will move us forward. The President will support 
unprecedented increases in education this year, but he wants that kind 
of reform. It is part of the bill. I am confident it will come out of 
the conference committee in a way that he can support.
  I thank Senator Daschle for his leadership and his time in the late 
evening.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, I compliment the distinguished Senator 
from Alabama for his comments. I agree with much of what I heard. I 
think he is absolutely right. This is a real accomplishment. And for 
people who care about education on both sides of the aisle, we made 
real progress today. I am proud to be a part of it. I appreciate his 
comments.
  Madam President, I want to acknowledge the leadership of Senator 
Lott, our Republican leader. He was majority leader when we started. We 
had a number of discussions as we considered how to take up this bill. 
It was Senator Lott who said: We are going to take it up, and we are 
going to let amendments roll. We are going to let amendments be 
offered. We are not going to use extralegal parliamentary devices. We 
are going to stay with the agreement we had under the power sharing. He 
did it, and he did it with real style.
  The day should not end without a recognition of Senator Lott's 
commitment in that regard and the leadership he provided to allow us to 
complete the bill today.
  Senator Judd Gregg from New Hampshire also deserves special 
recognition. He stepped in at the end, completed the bill, as the 
Republican manager. I acknowledge his leadership as well.

                          ____________________