[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 125 (Tuesday, September 8, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9136-S9137]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HARKIN (for himself and Mr. Roberts):
  S. 1652. 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 
Kansas, Senator Roberts, 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 and only recently came close because of the one-time 
investment through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
  As we introduce this bill, our children are beginning another school 
year. Some are meeting new teachers and going to new classrooms. Some 
are starting at a completely new school with new opportunities for 
success and new challenges. Yet we are still shortchanging children 
with disabilities and their educational opportunities.
  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

[[Page S9137]]

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 in order to pay for IDEA services because the Federal Government 
has reneged on its commitment.
  I was pleased that we were able to increase funding for the IDEA 
grants to States program as part of the American Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act this year to $22.8 billion. That represents 34 percent 
of the additional funding needed to support special education. However, 
the Recovery Act is a one-time investment designed to address a crisis 
caused by the recession that could have resulted in the loss of 
thousands of teachers and programs students need to be successful. 
Without the Recovery Act, IDEA grants are currently funded at around 17 
percent of the cost of special education programs. 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 straightforward. It authorizes 
increasing amounts of mandatory funding in 6 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 disabilities.
  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. 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.
  In the 3 decades since Congress passed IDEA, and in the 8 years since 
we passed the No Child Left Behind Act, we have dramatically increased 
opportunities for students with disabilities. Likewise, we are holding 
local systems accountable in unprecedented ways. It is time for us in 
Congress also to be held accountable. It is time for us to make good on 
our promise to fully fund IDEA. To that end, I urge my colleagues to 
support this bill.
  Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. President, I rise today to offer legislation with 
Senator Harkin to fulfill a promise that we made over 30 years ago. We 
made a commitment to pay 40 percent of the excess cost of educating a 
special needs child. However, we have not fulfilled that promise.
  Our legislation annually increases funding for Part B of the 
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act over a 6-year period. With 
these increases, we will be able to fully fund Part B in 2015.
  I encourage my colleagues to add their support to this needed 
legislation. If the Federal Government would provide its promised share 
of special education funding, our schools could then use any state and 
local funds for other educational needs, such as art and music.
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