[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 110 (Thursday, July 21, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4805-S4806]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HARKIN (for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr.

[[Page S4806]]

        Lautenberg, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Bennet, 
        Mr. Franken, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Reed, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Johnson 
        of South Dakota, and Mr. Begich):
  S. 1403. 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 Finance.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, throughout my career in public service I 
have focused on ensuring that each and every child with a disability 
has a right to a good education. To this end, I have fought tirelessly 
to safeguard the rights of children with disabilities under the 
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA, the landmark 
legislation that has been improving the educational outcomes of 
millions of students across the nation since 1975 through the 
principles of inclusion and equality. When Congress passed IDEA with 
strong bipartisan support, we understood that our commitment to provide 
high-quality educational opportunities and serve the needs of students 
with disabilities in our classrooms entailed excess costs compared to 
other students, which would have a significant financial impact on 
States and school districts. As a result, Congress committed to cover 
up to 40 percent of the excess cost of educating students with 
disabilities; however, we have failed to deliver on that promise and 
the law has been greatly underfunded. This is why I am pleased to 
introduce the IDEA Full Funding Act, with my colleagues Richard Durbin, 
Frank Lautenberg, Richard Blumenthal, Patty Murray, Sheldon Whitehouse, 
Patrick Leahy, Michael Bennet, Al Franken, Barbara Mikulski, Jack Reed, 
Jeanne Shaheen, Tim Johnson, and Mark Begich, which will meet the full 
Federal commitment at no additional cost to taxpayers. Given the 
current financial difficulties that many State and local governments 
are facing, this legislation is more essential than ever for ensuring 
that students with disabilities get the high-quality education and 
services they need to fulfill their potential.
  Since the enactment of IDEA, students with disabilities across the 
United States have made tremendous progress. Today, over 6.6 million 
students receive special education services designed to meet their 
individual needs. Mr. President, 95 percent of students with 
disabilities attend a neighborhood school, and almost \2/3\ of those 
spend at least 80 percent of their day in the regular school 
environment. Nearly 350,000 infants and toddlers receive early 
intervention services. Almost 6 out of 10 students with disabilities 
graduate high school with a regular diploma--twice the percentage of 25 
years ago. Moreover, approximately half of students with disabilities 
enroll in postsecondary education. We must do our best to continue this 
progress and make good on a 36-year-old promise because we still have a 
long way to go: students with disabilities who graduate from high 
school have an employment rate that is less than half the employment 
rate of the general population.
  Today, the Federal Government provides about 16 percent of special 
education costs or less than half of the committed level of 40 percent. 
In the current fiscal year, this means that Federal funds are almost 
$24 billion short, which forces States and school districts to make up 
the Federal shortfall at a time when they are cash strapped. The IDEA 
Full Funding Act will fully fund the Federal commitment to IDEA by 
gradually increasing the Federal Government's share of the excess costs 
of educating students with disabilities to its committed level over 10 
years. Specifically, this legislation will increase the Federal dollars 
appropriated from $11.5 billion in fiscal year 2011 to $35.3 billion in 
fiscal year 2021.
  By making good on our 36-year-old promise, which has a history of 
bipartisan support, we will supply schools with the necessary funding 
to enhance the quality and range of services available to students with 
disabilities. The funding increase will help to raise salaries for 
teachers and related services personnel, thereby allowing districts to 
enhance recruitment and retention possibilities, and will support 
school districts in increasing graduation rates and postsecondary 
enrollment rates of students with disabilities.
  In these difficult times, it is essential for Congress to provide 
these revenues without increasing the deficit. The IDEA Full Funding 
Act is fully paid for by doubling the tax on cigarettes and small 
cigars and setting equivalent increases to other tobacco products. In 
addition to the benefit of offsetting the cost of fully funding IDEA, 
these tax provisions will help an estimated 1 million Americans reduce 
their tobacco use or quit altogether and prevent an estimated 2.2 
million children from taking up smoking in the first place. The stakes 
are incredibly high: smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car 
accidents, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined, with 
thousands more dying from spit tobacco use. Every day at least 1,000 
children become new regular, daily smokers in the U.S. and of those, 
almost a third will ultimately die from it. Furthermore, every year 
Americans incur the cost of $96 billion in public and private health 
care expenditures caused by smoking, including an estimated $54.6 
billion in Federal Medicare and Medicaid Federal expenditures. Overall, 
this legislation, which I hope will enjoy bipartisan support, will 
impact children's lives in important ways, both by improving the 
educational outcomes of students with disabilities and by improving 
their health through smoking prevention.
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