[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 149 (Thursday, September 18, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H8432-H8435]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    NO CHILD LEFT INSIDE ACT OF 2008

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 1441 and rule 
XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House 
on the state of the Union for the consideration of the bill, H.R. 3036.

                              {time}  1455


                     In the Committee of the Whole

  Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the 
Whole House on the State of the Union for the consideration of the bill 
(H.R. 3036) to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
regarding environmental education, and for other purposes, with Mr. 
Ross in the chair.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered read the 
first time.
  The gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes) and the gentleman from 
California (Mr. McKeon) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Maryland.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. Chairman, it is my pleasure to rise today to speak 
in support of the No Child Left Inside Act of 2008 which I was 
privileged to sponsor and which really, I think, sets a new foundation 
for focus on environmental education in this country as we move forward 
at a critical time in our Nation's history.
  Before I speak to the merits, I want to make sure that I thank 
Chairman George Miller, chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, 
for his strong support of the No Child Left Inside Act and for being a 
champion throughout his career for environmental education. His 
involvement in this bill and his strong support signals that we are 
setting a foundation today to make sure that when it comes time to 
reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act next year that 
environmental education will be a critical and important component of 
that reauthorization.
  I also want to thank Chairman Dale Kildee, chairman of the 
subcommittee that had jurisdiction over the No Child Left Inside Act, 
as well as Chairwoman McCarthy whose committee has jurisdiction with 
respect to the National Environmental Education Act which this extends.
  We persuaded Chairman Kildee to conduct a field hearing in Maryland 
at the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge, and we did it outdoors. I am not sure 
that he had done that before, but it went off beautifully. We got very, 
very powerful testimony from children and parents, teachers and 
environmentalists and other advocates for this legislation.
  I want to salute the coalition, the No Child Left Inside Act 
Coalition, which consists at last count of more than 700 organizations 
across the country, national organizations, regional organizations, and 
local organizations who came together to support this important piece 
of legislation representing over 40 million members in these 
organizations. That coalition, and this gives you a sense of what this 
legislation means, that coalition included public health advocates, 
environmentalists, educators, sportsmen, zoos, parks and other outdoor 
education centers, faith-based organizations, as well as businesses.
  I want to give some special recognition to my home State of Maryland 
and their role in leading and helping organize this coalition and to 
the Governor of Maryland, Governor O'Malley, and the Secretary of 
Education, Nancy Grasmick, for also stepping up and doing at the State 
level what we are trying to effect across the country.
  Finally, I have to salute the children and parents who came to the 
rallies and to the hearings that we have conducted on No Child Left 
Inside Act over

[[Page H8433]]

the last year because it was in the eyes of those children, in their 
whole body language and the enthusiasm and excitement they had when 
they were outdoors participating in these environmental activities. 
That was reason enough for us to be steadfast in supporting this 
legislation and moving it forward.

                              {time}  1500

  And of course, the many parents who I think look at the fact that 
their children are spending so much time indoors on television, the 
Internet, video games, and remember a time when they used to play 
outside and want to get their kids back out and into nature.
  Let me just briefly address the contents of No Child Left Inside, 
what it seeks to do. It is an extension of the National Environmental 
Education Act, and it has a number of key components.
  The first is to enhance the teacher training programs and teacher 
development programs that have existed and been overseen by the 
Environmental Protection Agency. We've enhanced them in this bill so 
that there's more of a focus on training teachers on how to deliver 
environmental education at the school level. We've enhanced it by 
putting in new provisions to recruit teachers, particularly in 
underserved areas to enter the field of environmental education.
  In addition, this bill establishes, or asks, rather, that States 
across the country develop environmental literacy plans, in other 
words, a framework on how that State is going to make sure that when 
children graduate from high school, they have a fundamental awareness 
of the environment and the need to preserve our environment.
  Lastly, and I think in some ways most importantly, this creates a new 
grant program, a National Capacity Environmental Education grant 
program which will allow local and State education associations, 
institutions of higher education and nonprofits, to apply competitively 
for grants that would fund a variety of environmental education 
initiatives, including developing new policy approaches to 
environmental education, developing curriculum framework, academic 
content standards and achievement standards focused on environmental 
education, and replicating and distributing information about tested 
and model programs that get children into nature and really have them 
experiencing the environment.
  I'm so very pleased because I think this legislation reflects the 
commitment in this body, in this House of Representatives, in the 
people's House, but it also reflects the commitment that exists across 
our Nation today to environmental education and to the importance of 
focusing on the environment and getting our children out and into 
nature.
  There's many, many benefits of this legislation and the programs that 
it will fund. I will turn to those shortly, Mr. Chairman.
  For the moment, I will reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Since 1990, the Federal Government's environmental education programs 
have been coordinated by the Environmental Protection Agency and have 
been well supported, receiving approximately $9 million in 2008.
  The bill before us aims to strengthen that investment. It would 
incorporate scientifically-based and technology-driven teaching methods 
into environmental education, align programs with challenging State and 
local content standards, and support integrated and interdisciplinary 
studies. It would also create opportunities for professional 
development and encourage participation among underrepresented 
populations. These are all positive steps that I support.
  This bill also creates a new National Capacity Environmental 
Education Program, under the Department of Education, to develop 
elementary and secondary environmental education programs. 
Unfortunately, this program is duplicative of the existing 
environmental education program already being run by the EPA, which has 
provided more than 3,200 grants to States, local schools and nonprofit 
organizations to increase environmental education. By creating a new 
program administered by the Secretary of Education, I'm concerned that 
the bill could create a more fragmented system of promoting 
environmental education on the Federal level.
  Still, on the whole, I think this is a modest bill with good 
intentions, and I do not intend to oppose its passage. I appreciate 
Chairman Miller's willingness to work in a bipartisan fashion, and plan 
to vote ``yes'' because of that cooperation.
  But let me say one thing to the education reform opponents who blame 
No Child Left Behind for all the world's ills. Our schools are free to 
teach environmental education or music or history or the Constitution 
or any number of other important subjects today under the No Child Left 
Behind act. We don't need a new bill with a clever name to make that 
happen.
  So while I will be voting ``yes'' on this bill, I must confess that 
I'm not entirely sure why we're here today devoting several hours to 
debating it under a rule.
  Only a handful of bills are brought up under the rules process each 
week. Generally, those are the bills that are of greatest concern to 
the American people. This week, for example, this rather minor 
environmental education bill is one of just four bills that will be 
brought up under a rule. Dozens of other minor bills are easily 
considered under a suspension of the rule each week, giving us more 
time for those issues that are complex or consequential.
  The only reason I can think of to bring a bill like this to the floor 
under a rule is because the majority is trying to fill the time and 
avoid a debate on other issues.
  On the schedule that we've been given by this Democratic leadership 
that pledged to work harder in this new Congress, in the last 5 months 
of this year, 15 days were scheduled to work. Last week one of those 
days was eliminated, bringing it down to 14. We just heard that another 
day has been eliminated tomorrow, bringing it down to 13; 13 working 
days in the last 5 months of the year.
  One of the issues that we could be debating, or should be debating, I 
think it is very important to the American people given the price of 
gasoline at the pump and the tremendous problems that we have facing 
us, this issue is energy, and it's an issue that we won't allow the 
majority to ignore. In fact, I believe this bill to improve 
environmental education is the perfect place to talk about energy.
  That's why we've proposed amendments to advance the understanding of 
the environmental and economic benefits of clean coal and oil shale 
production, energy production in ANWR, and energy production on the 
Outer Continental Shelf.
  We've proposed amendments to advance the understanding of the 
environmental and economic benefits of nuclear power, and of American-
made energy, and of an all-of-the-above strategy, an energy production 
strategy that would increase production, promote conservation and 
expand innovation.
  Feeling the pressure to acknowledge these important issues, the 
majority hastily revised their manager's amendment on Tuesday for this 
bill, more than a week after the amendment deadline for the bill. And 
they added a half-hearted mention of issues of American energy 
production.
  While it's a small step in the right direction, I can't help but 
wonder if this last-minute change was made not because they agree that 
we need to explore these issues, but because they simply didn't want to 
vote on our other stronger amendments. Time and again, this majority 
has skirted the issue and avoided a real debate about real energy 
problems.
  The bill we passed on Tuesday was a sham. It was about offering 
political cover, not about making America energy independent.
  Mr. Chairman, I would urge the American people to watch the progress 
of this bill. I've heard many speeches during the last couple of days 
about how we've expanded areas where we can explore and we can bring 
more production on-line and we can move towards energy independence, 
and this is what we have done to help the American people.
  I would encourage the American people, Mr. Chairman, to watch the

[[Page H8434]]

progress of this bill to see how it moves forward the rest of this 
afternoon; tomorrow we won't be in session so they won't be able to 
work on it, and then all of next week. We'll be here, maybe all week, 
and then this Congress will end. And let's see if the American people 
see that the things that were promised in these speeches the last 
couple of days come to bear, or if it was just more political rhetoric 
to try to win the upcoming election.
  I'm not surprised that they incorporated a fig leaf reference to 
energy production in this bill at all. It becomes par for the course. 
But I'm here to tell you that we're not buying it and the American 
people aren't buying it, either.
  Our schools are suffering because of high energy prices, and any time 
we debate a bill to help our schools, we ought to be talking about how 
to ease their pain at the pump as well.
  Earlier today I joined Republican Leader Boehner to release the 
results of our Back to School Energy Survey. The results were eye 
opening. We heard from nearly 1,000 Americans, principals, teachers, 
school board members from across country, and they overwhelmingly 
agreed that Congress needs to be doing more to bring down energy 
prices.
  Ninety percent of those surveyed said high energy costs were 
impacting their schools. Nearly half reported that high fuel costs have 
forced schools in their community to cut field trips and after-school 
activities. One-third told us that high costs forced schools to limit 
bus routes. And nearly a quarter reported that rising energy costs have 
led to higher school lunch prices.
  Mr. Chairman, the American people deserve better and our schools 
deserve better.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. Chairman, I just want to point out that one of the 
things that is so exciting about this bill and the advancing of 
environmental education that it represents, and we heard this in some 
of the hearings we conducted, is you're going to get young people very 
interested in the environment from the standpoint of what business 
opportunities, economic opportunities exist. And some of these folks 
are going to go out and come up with cutting-edge ideas in terms of 
energy, new energy technologies and so forth.
  In fact, we heard from one young man who testified that when his 
interest in environmental education developed, he took that and he 
channeled it into his own start-up business which is looking at 
biofuels. And so I expect to come from this sort of legislation which 
gets our kids focused more on environmental education all sorts of new 
economic opportunities and things that advance us when it comes to 
energy.
  Before I yield, I just want to make one other point. This 
legislation, in my view, is really responding to initiative and 
creativity that is coming forth from the citizenry all across this 
country. Many communities and schools have, on their own, sort of 
stepped forward and started to pilot things in the environmental 
education arena. But they need some help. They need some resources to 
jump that up to the next level. I view as a very appropriate role of 
government to step forward and offer some leverage and help facilitate 
good ideas when they emerge from the public.
  It's been 27 years since the U.S. Department of Education had a 
meaningful role with respect to environmental education. This bill will 
make sure that that happens, and that's one of the reasons we're so 
excited about it.
  At this time I would like to yield, Mr. Chairman, 2 minutes to the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey), a member of the Education 
and Labor Committee.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Thank you, Mr. Sarbanes, for yielding time.
  I rise in support of H.R. 3036, the No Child Left Inside Act. My 
district is just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, 
Marin and Sonoma Counties. We've been leaders in bringing environmental 
education into schools for quite some time now. These wonderful 
educators have done this through programs like the School Garden 
Projects and the Students and Teachers Restoring a Watershed, the STRAW 
project. These programs have given children hands-on opportunities to 
learn about the environment, and it's given teachers an opportunity to 
integrate other subjects; they integrate math and science and writing 
so students see real world applications in what they are learning.
  This bill will help States. It will help them expand efforts to 
promote environmental education in our Nation's schools, and to promote 
efforts to teach our children to be good stewards of the Earth, and, in 
turn, they teach their parents, quite often.
  Environmental education is a great way to tie together all the 
important subjects and lessons for growing up, while also teaching 
students about the environment, how to play a key role in preserving it 
for our future, for their future and for their children's future.
  As we look for the best ways to prepare our children for the future, 
we cannot forget that the best education teaches the whole child.

                              {time}  1515

  Children must continue to have access to all subjects, including 
environmental education. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3036, the 
No Child Left Inside Act.
  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, I am happy to yield at this time to the 
gentleman from Delaware, the subcommittee ranking member on the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Committee, Mr. Castle, 4 minutes.
  Mr. CASTLE. I thank the distinguished gentleman from California for 
yielding to me, and I do rise in support of H.R. 3036, the No Child 
Left Inside Act.
  This legislation builds upon a strong foundation of the National 
Environmental Education Act, NEEA, a law originally passed in 1990 to 
coordinate the Federal Government's environmental education programs 
through the Environmental Protection Agency, which we know as the EPA.
  I believe strongly in the need for environmental education--our 
dependence on fossil fuels, growing global warming pollution, and 
skyrocketing energy costs are all major concerns that require multi-
pronged approaches. I believe environmental education is the tool of 
choice in tackling many of these issues. Never before has it been more 
imperative that we educate not only the next generation of scientists, 
but also the next generation of environmental stewards.
  Environmental education fosters greater appreciation among Americans, 
beginning in the classroom and extending throughout their adult lives, 
for the role we all play, collectively and as individuals, in shaping a 
greener world. Through the NEEA, the Federal Government is playing a 
strong role in environmental education, promoting science to meet the 
challenges of the 21st century, and helping to foster a green economy.
  I believe this legislation takes a number of steps which work to 
bolster environmental education and ultimately benefit our Nation's 
students, such as extending for one year the NEEA, strengthening the 
existing environmental education and training programs so that it 
focuses on creating opportunities for enhanced and ongoing professional 
development, and developing a National Capacity Environmental Education 
Grant Program under NEEA to develop elementary and secondary 
environmental programs.
  I am also pleased that this bill includes language that I offered 
before the Committee on Education and Labor to ensure that the programs 
and activities funded under the NEEA are, in fact, quality programs and 
activities by requiring participants to report on and subsequently 
making public the progress they make on a number of quality indicators. 
Important indicators which foster the understanding and appreciation of 
the environment, such as enhancing the understanding of the natural and 
built environment, fostering an appreciation of environmental issues, 
increasing academic achievement in environmental issues and in related 
areas of national interest such as mathematics and science, increasing 
the understanding of the benefits of natural environmental exposure, 
increasing the understanding of how human and natural systems interact 
with one another, and broadening the awareness of environmental issues 
for funded programs and activities.
  As I stated earlier, I believe strongly in improving educational 
achievement

[[Page H8435]]

and believe environmental education is an important component. 
Resulting from the No Child Left Behind Act, which I coauthored, all 50 
States have implemented accountability measures in response to 
increasing concerns about the quality of our Nation's students' 
elementary and secondary education. I believe this amendment follows 
this trend by ensuring that environmental education, too, is of a high 
standard in this country.
  While I believe the underlying legislation will help strengthen 
environmental education in our country, I also believe it is necessary 
for Congress to move forward with a broader reauthorization of the 
National Environmental Education Act.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues on this vital piece of 
legislation as we head into next year.
  I would just point out with all the discussion we've had on the floor 
in the last 2 or 3 months about energy and the environment, that 
education such as this could be very helpful in terms of future 
Congresses as well.
  I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3036.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. Chairman, I do want to thank Ranking Member McKeon 
and Congressman Castle for their support here today for the bill, as 
well as in committee, and thank Representative Castle for his very 
helpful amendment during the markup.
  Ms. Woolsey just a moment before mentioned just how this brings 
children alive, and I want to make one point before I yield to 
Representative Andrews. That is, we had testimony in our hearings for 
all those who are concerned about this, you know, whether introducing 
in a meaningful way back into our curriculum things like environmental 
education and other subjects are somehow going to detract from this 
important focus on math and reading proficiency, for example.
  The testimony that we had from one teacher was that her fourth 
graders are writing grant applications to local foundations for funding 
that can help support local projects that they're involved in with 
their local watershed right there in their own backyard, backyard 
streams and so forth. And nothing is enhancing their reading and verbal 
proficiency more than engaging in that exercise. But it's all motivated 
by their love of the environment.
  It is my pleasure now to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Andrews).
  (Mr. ANDREWS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. ANDREWS. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this very well-
thought-out piece of legislation. School districts across our country 
are struggling economically to pay their bills for their basics, to do 
the basic things that we've established schools to do. And sometimes 
some things that they would like to do that are somewhat extra fall by 
the wayside. Very often they do.
  This program builds a competitive grant program where school 
districts around the country can compete for the most innovative and 
effective environmental education programs.
  This is the field trip that the students might not otherwise have; 
this is the summer course for the teacher that he or she might not 
otherwise have; this is investment in the learning materials for the 
technology that the students might not otherwise have; this is the 
science fair competition that is centered upon environmental issues 
that the students might not otherwise have. The beneficiaries of this 
well-thought-out bill are not simply the students and the teachers and 
the schools who will benefit from the program, it's the U.S. economy 
and all of us who depend on it.
  The jobs of the future will be jobs that generate new ideas, 
particularly in the area of alternative energy production. So much of 
that is intricately tied to environmental education. And it's today's 
students, today's young people, for whom these ideas will be 
enlightened and from whom new products will come.
  So this is not simply an assistance to America's schools today. I 
believe it's also an investment in the jobs of the future that the 
country so badly needs.
  I congratulate Mr. Sarbanes for his excellent work on this bill. I 
would hope both Democrats and Republicans support it, and I would urge 
a ``yes'' vote.
  The CHAIRMAN. The Committee will rise informally.
  The Speaker pro tempore (Ms. Clarke) assumed the Chair.

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