[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 178 (Thursday, December 20, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13934-S13935]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



  Mr. CLELAND. Mr. President, the far-reaching education package before 
us today makes significant strides toward meeting three of America's 
most important education goals: improved student achievement, increased 
accountability, and enhanced teacher quality. I am very pleased that 
the conference report includes two of the amendments I offered to the 
Senate BEST Act--my Immigrants to New Americas amendment and my 
amendment to establish a National Center for School and Youth Safety. I 
thank the distinguished managers of the Senate bill, Senator Kennedy 
and Senator Jeffords, for their support and their willingness to assist 
me. I also want to express my appreciation to the staff of the Senator 
from Massachusetts for the courtesies and counsel they showed to me and 
to my staff.
  Finally, I want to thank the ``education team'' on my own staff, led 
by Lynn Kimmerly, my superb deputy legislative director, and Donni 
Turner, my outstanding chief staff counsel, who helped not only in 
developing and winning support for my amendments but in analyzing and 
advising me on all of the details of this landmark legislation. They 
have served our State and our Nation well, and our country's children 
will be the beneficiaries.
  My Immigrants to New Americans language addresses the explosion of 
immigrants coming to this country over the past decade. Information 
from the 2000 Census shows that the impact from this wave of 
immigration is having a dramatic impact on schools and communities 
across America, including non-traditional immigrant communities in 
states like Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Georgia and the 
Carolinas. My amendment will provide resources to these communities to 
help ensure that these children--and their families--are being served 
appropriately. Specifically, it would expand the use of funds under the 
Emergency Immigrant Education set-aside to include activities which, 
one, assist culturally and linguistically diverse children achieve 
success in America's schools and, two, allow local educational agencies 
to partner with community-based organizations to provide the families 
of these children access to comprehensive community services.
  My second amendment incorporated in this landmark legislation 
addresses the deeply troubling issue of violence at Columbine and 
Heritage High and in other schools across the country. My School Safety 
Enhancement Amendment, based on the best research in the field of 
school violence prevention, would create a National Center for School 
and Youth Safety tasked with the mission of providing schools with 
adequate resources to prevent incidents of violence. The National 
Center would offer emergency assistance to local communities to respond 
to school safety crises, including counseling for victims, assistance 
to law enforcement to address short-term security concerns, and advice 
on how to enhance school safety and prevent future incidents. It would 
also operate a toll-free, anonymous nationwide hotline for students to 
report criminal activity and other high-risk behaviors, such as 
substance abuse, gang or cult affiliation, depression, or other warning 
signs of potentially violent behavior. Finally, the National Center 
would compile information about the best practices in school violence 
prevention, intervention, and crisis management. The goal of the 
National Center for School and Youth Safety is to involve the entire 
community--parents, school officials, law enforcement officers, and 
local governments and agencies--to make them aware of the resources, 
grants and expertise available to enhance school safety and prevent 
school crime.
  In closing, I would like to quote former British Prime Minister 
Benjamin Disraeli, who once said: ``Upon the education of the people of 
this country, the fate of this country depends.'' One of the most 
important investments this nation can make is an investment in the 
education of its future leaders. It is my fervent hope that

[[Page S13935]]

Members of Congress, on both sides of the aisle, will see the wisdom in 
investing adequate dollars to carry out the worthy goals of this 
critically important piece of legislation--improved student 
achievement, increased accountability, and enhanced teacher quality. It 
is an investment in the future of America, and the future, after all, 
is in very small hands.

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