[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 63 (Thursday, April 19, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4753-S4754]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HAGEL (for himself, Mr. Harkin, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Roberts, 
        Mr. Coleman, Mr. Warner, Ms. Collins, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Dodd, 
        Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Lieberman, and Mrs. Murray):
  S. 1159. A bill to amend part B of the Individuals with Disabilities 
Education Act to provide full Federal funding of such part; to the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleague from 
Nebraska, Senator Hagel, in introducing the IDEA Full Funding Act. The 
aim of this legislation is to ensure, at long last, that Congress makes 
good on a commitment it made more than three decades ago when we passed 
what is now called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. At 
that time, in 1975, we told children with disabilities, their families, 
schools, and States that the Federal Government would pay 40 percent of 
the extra cost of special education. We have never lived up to that 
commitment. In fact, today, we are not even halfway there.
  As we introduce this bill, we want to pay tribute to our former 
colleague, Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont, who, in 2001, joined with 
me to introduce the first amendment to make full funding of IDEA 
mandatory. In 1975, as ranking member of the House subcommittee on 
special education, Jim Jeffords co-authored what would later be known 
as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, requiring equal 
access to public education for millions of students with disabilities. 
It was a matter of profound disappointment to Jim that, year after 
year, the Federal Government failed to make good on its funding 
promises under that law.
  We tell our children all the time to keep their promises, to live up 
to their commitments, to do as they say they are going to do. We teach 
them that if they fail to do so, other people can be hurt. Well, that 
is what Congress has done by failing to appropriately fund IDEA: We 
have hurt school children all across America. We have pitted children 
with disabilities against other children for a limited pool of school 
funds. We have put parents in the position of not demanding services 
that their child with a disability truly needs, because they have been 
told that the services cost too much and other children would suffer. 
We have hurt school districts, which are forced, in effect, to rob 
Peter to pay Paul in order to provide services to students with 
disabilities. We have also hurt local taxpayers, who are obliged to pay 
higher property taxes and other local taxes

[[Page S4754]]

in order to pay for IDEA services because the Federal Government has 
reneged on its commitment.
  I was pleased that, at the outset of this new Congress, we were able 
to increase funding for the IDEA grants to states program as part of 
the FY 2007 Continuing Resolution to $10.8 billion. But even that level 
of funding is woefully inadequate. That represents only 17.2 percent of 
the additional funding needed to support special education. So we have 
a long way to go to reach the 40 percent level. But it is time to do 
so. It is time for the Federal Government to make good on its promise 
to students with disabilities in this country.
  The IDEA Full Funding Act is pretty straight forward. It authorizes 
increasing amounts of mandatory funding in 8-year increments that, in 
addition to the discretionary funding allocated through the 
Appropriations Committee, will finally meet the Federal Government's 
commitment to educating children with special needs.
  This bill is a win-win-win for the American people. Students with 
disabilities will get the education services that they need in order to 
achieve and succeed. School districts will be able to provide these 
services without cutting into their general education budgets. And 
local property tax payers will get relief.
  Full funding of IDEA is not a partisan issue. We all share an 
interest in ensuring that children with disabilities get an appropriate 
education, and that local school districts do not have to slash their 
general education budgets in order to pay for special education. We all 
share a sense of responsibility to make good on the promise Congress 
made to fully fund its promised share of special education costs.
  So I urge my colleagues to join with Senator Hagel and me in 
sponsoring this bill. In the 30-plus years since we passed IDEA, and in 
the 6 years since we passed the No Child Left Behind Act, the 
expectations for students with disabilities have grown immensely. 
Likewise, we are holding local school systems accountable in 
unprecedented ways. It is high time for us in Congress to also be held 
accountable. It is time for us to make good on our promise to fully 
fund IDEA.
                                 ______