[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 12, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S2282]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Education Funding

  Mr. President, I see my friend and colleague from New Mexico. I would 
like to, if I may, proceed for about 3 or 4 more minutes on a different 
subject, but one I know he is very much interested in. I think it is 
important to bring to the attention of the Senate. That is the outcome 
of the omnibus 2003 budget in the area of education.
  We are going to have the final budget conference report in the next 
several hours, but there are a number of parts of it that effectively 
have been closed. It is important, since it affects the families in 
this country who are concerned about education, that we take a moment 
to review the positive outcome that has taken place in the omnibus 2003 
budget that marks a victory for parents and teachers and principals and 
schoolchildren across the Nation.
  When the omnibus 2003 spending bill is reported out of conference 
later tonight, it will include an education budget increase that is 
eight times President Bush's request. For the second time in 4 weeks 
the Congress will reject President Bush's inadequate education budget 
and insist on increased resources to carry out school reform. And for 
the second time in 4 weeks, Republicans and Democrats in Congress will 
reject the administration's ongoing drive to divert scarce public 
school funding to private school vouchers.
  I see the Senator from Maine who, with our friend and colleague from 
Connecticut, during the authorization spoke so eloquently about the 
importance of funding of title I. We made important progress in 
including approximately 500,000 more children who would be eligible for 
title I as the result of the omnibus bill.
  The final year budget which effectively will provide resources that 
will be available to the school systems this spring will provide 3.2 
billion in education over the previous year and 2.8 billion over 
President Bush's budget. Title I, the key school reform program, the No 
Child Left Behind, would be increased by $1.4 billion, helping half a 
million more needy children to be fully served. In my State of 
Massachusetts, 46,000 more children will be served. IDEA will increase 
by $1.4 billion, putting us a step closer toward fully funding the 
program as promised. My own State of Massachusetts will see a $32 
million increase in special education funding.
  Support for improved teaching quality and reducing class size will 
increase by $100 million--not nearly enough, but we are going in the 
right direction. We will improve the quality of 24,000 more teachers 
across the country. Programs that help English language learners master 
English will increase by $25 million and will help 37,000 more children 
learn English.
  We have made strong steps toward meeting the promises of full funding 
outlined in No Child Left Behind and NIDA. But it is not enough. 
Teachers and students need more support. Teacher shortages are getting 
worse, class sizes are increasing, State deficits are skyrocketing. So 
we have a good deal of work to do. But as a result of the decisions 
that have been made recently in the Senate and in the conference 
report, there is some good news on the way.
  I thank my friend and colleague from New Mexico for permitting me to 
finish.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico is recognized.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Madam President, let me first thank my colleague from 
Massachusetts for his eloquent statement on the Estrada nomination and 
also his other statement about the level of funding for education 
contained in the omnibus appropriations bill. I know how hard he has 
worked on that issue for many years. I commend him for the progress 
that has been made, and I agree with him that much more progress needs 
to be made.
  I want to say a few words about the Estrada nomination and also talk 
about another aspect of the President's proposed budget to us, with 
which I have found serious concern.
  First, on the Estrada nomination for the DC Court of Appeals, Miguel 
Estrada has been nominated for that position, and, frankly, the concern 
I bring to this issue is that many of my good friends and people whom I 
respect in the House of Representatives, in the Hispanic Caucus, have 
indicated that they oppose his nomination. When I said many, I should 
have said all. They had quite a discussion and quite a period of 
investigation of this nomination, and they concluded unanimously that 
the Hispanic Caucus of the House of Representatives would oppose the 
nomination. I have been contacted by several members of that caucus and 
urged to resist the nomination in the Senate. As I say, I have not 
taken the time to look into it in detail myself, but I have great 
respect for these gentlemen and women who have worked hard on this 
issue, and their strong opposition is of concern to me.
  I am also concerned that not a single Democratic member of the Senate 
Judiciary Committee determined to support the nominee after hearing the 
nominee's answers to questions before the committee. I share my 
colleagues' concerns as expressed by many of those members on the 
Judiciary Committee that we simply do not have enough information about 
this nominee at this time to cast an informed vote. During his 
confirmation hearing, he was not willing to answer many basic questions 
that were propounded to him. He was evasive when asked about his 
judicial philosophy. He refused to provide samples of his work from the 
time he served in the Solicitor General's Office. There have been 
requests for information made that, in my view, have been reasonable.

  As I understand it, the chairman and ranking Democrat on the 
Judiciary Committee and Senator Daschle are continuing to request 
additional information before any vote is cast on that nomination.
  Some have attempted to turn this debate into a debate about the 
nominee's ethnicity. I don't believe that is the issue. I have 
supported many Hispanic candidates. In my State, I had the great honor 
to recommend to President Clinton, our previous President, and he in 
fact appointed a Hispanic nominee to our Federal court in New Mexico. 
But that support was based on having a full record regarding the 
candidate's qualifications in each case. We do not have a full record 
as to this nominee at this point. I hope when we attain it, then we can 
move forward with the vote at sometime in the future.