[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 19 (Friday, February 3, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S675-S678]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Remembering LaVell Edwards
Mr. HATCH. Madam President, I rise today to honor the memory of
LaVell Edwards, a giant of the gridiron who guided the Brigham Young
University football program through decades of unprecedented success.
Surrounded by his family, Coach Edwards passed away peacefully on the
morning of December 29, 2016.
Born to Philo and Addie Edwards in 1930 in Orem, UT, he excelled in
football and basketball at Lincoln High School.
Following graduation, he decided to attend Utah State University to
play football. LaVell figured that if he played for BYU, the hometown
school, he would have lived at home and been required to milk the
family cows, so he went north to Logan. At Utah State, he met the love
of his life, Patti Covey. A few months after the two went on a blind
date, they were married in Beaver Dam, UT.
Following graduation, LaVell served in the Army for 2 years. After
receiving an honorable discharge from the military, he became head
football coach at Granite High School in Salt Lake City.
After eight seasons as head coach, LaVell was hired at BYU by Hal
Mitchell in 1962. LaVell humorously remarked that he was hired only
because Coach Mitchell wanted to run the single wing offense and Coach
Edwards was the only Mormon running that offense at the time.
After 10 seasons as an assistant coach at BYU, he was promoted to
head coach in 1972. Prior to his promotion, BYU had never achieved much
success in football. In LaVell's words, it was a matter of when, not
if, he would be fired. So he decided to do something that few other
coaches were doing at the time: make the forward pass the focal point
of the offense. LaVell's bold move revolutionized the game of football.
His quarterbacks ended up throwing for over 100,000 yards, and four of
them won the Davey O'Brien Award, given annually to college football's
best quarterback. One of his quarterbacks even won the Heisman Trophy,
which is awarded each year to college football's best player. LaVell's
high-powered offense boosted the team to national prominence and
culminated in BYU's 1984 national championship victory.
Following this historic season, Coach Edwards was named the AFCA
National Coach of the Year. With LaVell at the helm, BYU consistently
finished in the top 25. He would eventually lead the Cougars to 19
conference championships and 257 victories, making him the seventh
winningest coach in college football history. He coached 31 all-
Americans, 6 College Football Hall of Famers, and 2 Outland Trophy
winners. Coach Edwards himself was ultimately inducted into the College
Football Hall of Fame in 2004.
Despite his tremendous success on the field, LaVell always remained
humble. He also never lost his sense of humor. Although college
football fans typically remember Coach Edwards for his trademark
sideline scowl, he was renowned for his wit. He quipped on this fact,
saying, ``Someone once said I'm a happy guy; I just forgot to tell my
face.'' With his disarming humor and clever one-liners, LaVell could
lighten the mood and make almost anyone laugh.
Coach Edwards also had a remarkable ability to delegate. Although he
knew football forward and backward, he surrounded himself with capable
coaches and he let them do their jobs. His assistants were some of the
best ever in college football, partially because he let them have free
reign. This quality allowed him to focus on the personal element of
football.
He valued all of his players, and by all accounts, his door was
always open to them. Indeed, many of his players have spoken about
having frequent meetings with him that helped change their lives for
the better. At his funeral, hundreds of former football players showed
up--Hall of Famers, top-notch-rated people in almost every case. I was
there at the funeral on Saturday.
Coach Edwards simply cared about people, and I was fortunate to
witness this up close. In the 100th Congress, I had the pleasure of
working with him when he was president of the American Football Coaches
Association. Together, we helped to pass legislation that allowed the
AFCA to establish multiemployer pensions for college football coaches.
Given the uncertain nature of the coaching profession, this legislation
was an important achievement for coaches and their families across the
country.
Although football was important to LaVell, his faith was first and
foremost. While he was coaching at BYU, LaVell served as a lay bishop
in a Mormon student congregation. He thoroughly enjoyed the
interactions he had with those students.
Throughout his life, he served his church in many other positions of
responsibility. Following his retirement from coaching in 2000, LaVell
and Patti served a public affairs mission in New York City for the
Mormon Church. He served honorably in that capacity and even put his
experience as a football coach to good use.
I might add that he invited me to come up and go to dinner with a
number of dignitaries in that area so that he could chat with them and
tell them a little bit about his faith and his beliefs, and it was a
privilege to do so.
He and Patti were terrific missionaries and good people. While a
missionary, LaVell aided in the establishment of Harlem's first high
school football program in decades.
Coach Edwards and Patti also met with many different political and
religious leaders, and, as he put it, they looked to ``build bridges''
between these leaders and his church.
Madam President, LaVell Edwards was a champion on and off the field.
Not only was he one of the most successful coaches in college football
history, he was also one of the greatest men I ever knew. I will be
forever grateful for my own friendship with LaVell, and I pray that we
will always remember the humility and humor that were the hallmarks of
his life. It was one of the privileges of my life to have a personal
relationship with him and Patti. They are two of the finest people I
have ever met.
I have to say that LaVell would drop anything to support his
religious beliefs, and he was a tremendous influence on literally
hundreds, if not thousands, of football players and others who watched
what he said, watched what he did, and loved how well he did those
things.
I personally was befriended by him on a number of occasions, and it
meant a lot to me. It means a lot to me to this day not because he was
so important, he was one of the greatest coaches who ever lived, and he
was in the Hall of Fame, but because he was down-to-earth, a person who
loved to play golf, loved all sports, and loved being with people. And
when he supported you, it was really support.
All I can say is, he is one of the greatest men I have ever met in my
life. He had a great influence on so many people--still does. His wife
is every bit as great as he has been. Both are tremendous human beings
who have made this world a better place to live.
From a football standpoint, I think most coaches who knew him would
say he was unexcelled, and I agree that is true, but that was minor
compared to the type of life he lived, the type of things he did, the
type of honors he shared, the type of kindness he showed, the ability
to talk to people and help them through the problems they had, and, of
course, the overall genuine goodness of a fellow whose life was well
spent, who touched so many lives, literally hundreds of thousands of
lives over the years, and who had this tremendous sense of humor that
made being around him a real pleasure.
I am grateful I knew LaVell Edwards well. I am grateful for the life
he lived. I am grateful for the example he set. I am grateful for the
joy he brought to so many people. And I wish his dear wife Patti
well. I just hope that these words will be a little bit of consolation
for her.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Kennedy). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I rise to strongly oppose the
nomination
[[Page S676]]
of Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education.
I want to start by just reading from some letters from some young
constituents that I received.
From one little boy named Theodore:
Dear Senator Gillibrand, I am a public student in PS 3. I
love my school.
Please vote against Betsy DeVos because she's against
public schools. I'm happy here.
From Felix:
Dear Senator Gillibrand, I am a public school student in
New York, and I love my school. Please vote against Betsy
DeVos as Secretary of Education because she is prejudice
against public schools. I am in third grade and am a boy.
Love, Felix.
Dear Senator Gillibrand, my name is Mina, and I am a public
school student. I love my school (PS3), and I hope you vote
against Betsy DeVos because she does not support public
schools. Sincerely, Mina.
These are just three letters out of thousands of letters, phone
calls, and emails from my constituents. I have never heard so much from
my constituents about someone so ill-prepared for the job they have
been nominated for.
I am unconvinced that this nominee in any way would use her position
to actually fight for the 2.6 million students and 200,000 teachers in
the public schools in my State.
She refused during hearings to commit to protecting the Federal
funding that goes to our title I schools which serve students from our
lowest income families. She refused to uphold critical Federal laws,
like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, in schools that
receive this absolutely necessary Federal funding. She refused to
commit to upholding title IX guidance from the Department of Education,
which has played an instrumental role in addressing the problem of
sexual assault in our schools across the country. She even wavered on
whether guns have any place in and around our schools, she said she
would oppose gun-free school zones. She doesn't have any experience
working as a teacher or as a school administrator at any point in her
career. Instead, she has spent decades advocating for education
policies that would fundamentally undermine our public school education
system.
What kind of message does this send to our students and their
families and our teachers if we put our trust in a person who has
worked so tirelessly throughout her career to weaken public schools?
I am astonished by how little the nominee seems to understand about
the basic needs of New York's schools, teachers, and parents. I am very
disturbed about how out of touch her statements are with basic values.
In New York, we have over 2.6 million students who attend public
schools, including 450,000 with disabilities. We have over 200,000
public schoolteachers.
Ninety percent of all students in our country go to public school.
Public schools serve all kids. They feed them if they show up hungry.
Public schools help all kids with disabilities and don't send them
somewhere else. Public schools help all students reach their God-given
potential, and public schools are held accountable for meeting the
requirements of our Federal education system and essential civil rights
protections, but this nominee has vilified public schools.
Teachers and students around the country have raised their voices
about this nominee, and they have made their views very clear. They do
not want us to confirm Betsy DeVos to lead the Department of Education
because they feel she is not an Education Secretary for all of America.
I have heard from tens of thousands of them. Listening to what my
constituents say, they are pretty concerned.
I would like to read a couple more letters. This one is from a school
social worker in a middle school. She was hired to help underserved
children develop effective executive functioning skills and survive
their day-to-day lives.
My students are resilient, intelligent, loving young women
and men, and they face indescribable hardships that no child
should have to experience.
The ideologies and policies represented by Betsy DeVos and
the Trump administration put my students' futures on the
line.
Please continue to represent and fight for my students by
denying the confirmation of Betsy DeVos for Secretary of
Education.
Here is another letter:
While I teach in a private school setting, my sixth grade
daughter attends a public middle school, and my second grade
son attends a funded special education school to address his
speech and language delays.
We rely on the excellent public schools in our community to
support the learning needs of our children, as do hundreds of
thousands of other families in New York City and millions of
families across the Nation.
Here is another letter from a teacher in one of the poorest school
districts in my State. He wrote:
I not only teach the State-mandated curriculum--we offer
elite educational programming to all those who reside in our
district.
I am honored on a daily basis to know that I have been able
to level the playing field for many students by offering them
the keys to success through their education.
Students who come to us homeless, underfed, victims of
poverty and trauma are given the same access to success as
those more fortunate.
Because of our public school systems, they have been able
to achieve the American dream and achieve all their dreams.
These are real concerns. These are heartfelt worries. This is what
the people of New York are saying and people across this country. We
need to listen to our constituents. We need to serve them. We need to
represent them. We need to listen to our teachers across our States who
work so hard every day to make sure our children can learn and reach
their potential. We need to listen to our families and our students who
have expressed very real fears that this nominee will cause damage to
our public schools.
So I stand with my colleagues from both parties to oppose this
nomination. I will not support the confirmation of someone who is such
a threat to our public school system.
I encourage everyone in this Chamber to think about the students and
teachers in their States who desperately need a leader to run the
Department of Education. I urge all of my colleagues to vote this
nominee down.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. REED. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. REED. Mr. President, I rise in opposition to the nomination of
Betsy DeVos to be the Secretary of Education. This is not a position I
take lightly. I have never opposed the confirmation of a nominee for
Secretary of Education. I also have never seen the intensity of
opposition to a nominee for this position as we have witnessed with
Mrs. DeVos.
Thousands of Rhode Islanders--educators, parents, community leaders--
have written or called to express their dismay that a person with Mrs.
DeVos's record and background would be chosen to lead the Department of
Education. What I have seen and heard about Mrs. DeVos leads me to
agree with my constituents--she is uniquely unsuited and unqualified
for this critical position.
The U.S. Secretary of Education oversees the Federal Government's
role in ensuring educational equity in our public schools regardless of
family income, race, ethnicity, language, or disability. Mrs. DeVos's
work has been in the opposite direction. She has dedicated her time,
political capital, and personal fortune to creating private sector
alternatives to public education.
She has also fought to shield those alternatives from the same
standards and accountability that apply to public schools. For example,
she spent a reported $1.45 million to reward or punish Michigan
legislators as part of her effort to kill an accountability plan that
would have included charter schools. This hostility to public schools
and affinity for using public dollars to fund private schools or for-
profit education companies makes her, in my estimation, a poor choice
to lead the U.S. Department of Education.
Mrs. DeVos's crusade for vouchers raises another fundamental question
about whether she respects the separation between church and state.
This is a founding principle of our Nation. However, in the past, she
has talked about her education reform efforts in religious terms as
advancing God's Kingdom and reversing what she feels is a trend of
public schools displacing church in community life. In an
administration that has signaled a willingness to discriminate based on
religion,
[[Page S677]]
these views are cause for real concern and they have no place at the
U.S. Department of Education.
Mrs. DeVos's crusade for school choice in Michigan has been a failure
for students. Since 2000, student achievement in that State has fallen.
In 2000, Michigan students scored above the national average on the
National Assessment of Education Progress in fourth grade reading and
math. By 2015, they were below average.
As a single-issue educational reformer, Mrs. DeVos does not have the
breadth of knowledge necessary to oversee our national education policy
from preschool through adult education and postsecondary education. Her
policy solution for education is choice. As they say, when all you have
is a hammer, everything is a nail. This one-size-fits-all approach is a
real danger given the diversity of our students, our institutions, our
communities, and the different educational challenges across the
lifespan of individual Americans.
I know many parents and students and employers are worried about our
schools. I share that worry, and we need to do more, but Mrs. DeVos's
plan to eliminate those neighborhood schools rather than do the hard
work of repairing, renovating, and providing the supports that enable
all schools to be ready to learn at school is cause for alarm.
During her hearing, Mrs. DeVos displayed little understanding of the
Federal student aid programs that provide approximately $150 billion in
assistance to students struggling to pay for college. So not only does
she have a single-minded focus on private charter elementary schools,
she has very little grasp--from her hearing testimony--on the
challenges for postsecondary education in the United States.
She also appeared confused about questions regarding the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act--the landmark law enacted in 1975, and
updated many times since, that protects the rights of children with
disabilities to a free and appropriate education. At first, she
suggested that States should be allowed to decide whether or how to
enforce the law, and that, in my view, is a disqualifying answer. This
has been a Federal initiative that has proved successful.
Indeed, many of us can recall when students with special needs were
ignored--totally ignored--until the IDEA, and now they have been
incorporated into our public school systems and into our educational
system, which has benefited these students, their families, and our
country.
I also share my colleagues' concerns about Mrs. DeVos's finances and
her ability to carry out her duties as Secretary free from conflict of
interest. Her ethics disclosures show investments and relationships
across a range of education interests from for-profit early childhood
education companies to for-profit education management entities,
advocacy organizations, education software, campus services, private
student loans, and student loan debt collectors. She has not fully
disclosed her assets to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions Committee and has declined to provide information on the
holdings in two family trusts that she will retain if she is confirmed.
This lack of transparency raises real questions about whose interests
will be served under her administration at the Department of Education.
Education is really the launching pad for the American dream. It is
the engine that drives this country forward. The Secretary of Education
must be a champion for public education.
As we have seen from the Office of Civil Rights data collection, we
have significant gaps in opportunities and resources in schools across
this country. Our Secretary of Education must be dedicated to helping
States and school districts close those gaps. These children cannot
afford to have resources drained from their public schools for vouchers
that will do little to improve the quality of education in their
communities.
And as many of my colleagues in rural States have indicated, there is
just, in many places geographically, the inability to substitute a
public school with a vouchered charter or private school. If we break
faith with these public schools, we will leave thousands of Americans,
particularly in rural communities, without any real choice.
The Secretary of Education should be working toward helping our
teachers, principals, school leaders, and parents ensure that we are
reaching all students and helping them succeed. All students include
students with disabilities and English language learners. All students,
together, learning from one another and not in separate and, indeed,
perhaps inherently unequal environments. Our goal should be equal
opportunity. And if we pursue that goal, we will see the progress and
success of America continue.
We need a Secretary of Education who is prepared on day one to lead
our Federal student aid system that includes a student loan portfolio
of over $1 trillion with more than 40 million borrowers. This is
another aspect of the responsibilities in postsecondary education that,
in her testimony and in her presentation, Mrs. DeVos appeared to be
ill-informed about. Our Secretary of Education must be at the forefront
of expanding college access, improving affordability, and ensuring that
students' educational and financial interests are protected.
We need a Secretary of Education who is prepared to address the needs
of adult learners, especially those who have been left behind in a
changing economy. Mrs. DeVos has provided no insight as to how she will
lead the Department of Education's efforts to support adult learners.
In fact, one of the realities of this economy is that learning today
is lifelong, lifetime learning. We have left the period in which a high
school diploma would be adequate for a person to get a good job, move
up through the ranks in a company, retire comfortably, and provide for
the next generation. Now, the intensity of education and the duration
of education has to be for a lifetime. And, once again, that knowledge,
that expertise, was not demonstrated in her testimony.
Sadly, I do not believe that Mrs. DeVos is the Education Secretary
that we need. She has dedicated her time and wealth to promoting
alternatives to public education, which I believe is the bedrock of our
democracy. I think one of the most significant reasons this country
grew and expanded was that going back to our earliest days, we, more
than any other Nation in the world, pioneered free public education,
accessible to all, and that engine drove this country forward. To
ignore that, to abandon public education, would be a tremendous setback
to not only our economy but to the fabric of our society.
Her focus on vouchers and for-profit education calls into question--
very dramatically--her commitment to public schools. It does not seem
to be her major priority, and I would argue that has to be a major
priority of the Secretary of Education, along with the Federal role of
ensuring that the rights of all students are protected, regardless of
where they live. This can't be a Department of Education that is
focused on certain ZIP Codes and ignores other ZIP Codes.
Furthermore, nothing in her background and in her testimony before
the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee inspires
confidence that she has the experience or vision necessary to oversee
public education policy, including higher education and adult
education.
For these reasons, I cannot support her nomination, and I would urge
my colleagues to join me in voting no.
As I indicated in my opening remarks, having served under both
Republican Presidents and Democratic Presidents, this is the first time
I have ever felt that I could not support a nominee for the Department
of Education.
With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I wish to thank my many colleagues who
have been here this morning to talk about this critical appointment,
the Secretary of Education, who oversees all of our K-12 and higher
education in this country. It is a principle so many of us care about.
I have heard passionately from so many of my colleagues here today
about what public education means to them, what it means to our
country, what it means to our
[[Page S678]]
democracy, and what it means for kids of all different backgrounds to
come together in a public education system that is guaranteed by this
country. The dangerous views of this nominee, Betsy DeVos as Secretary
of Education--who has said repeatedly she will not protect the
investments we have made, but rather has the philosophy that we should
take money away from our public education students and put it to
vouchers for private schools--will undermine our whole entire
democracy. It is why we have heard across this country from so many
parents and teachers and students and grandparents and business leaders
who are urging Senators from every State to vote no on this nominee.
Certainly we can do better. Certainly the last election was not about
sending our K-12 and higher education system into chaos, certainly not
at a time when one of the most important things people care about is
the stability of our economy, the ability to get a job. Fundamental to
that is being able to know you can go to a school, no matter where you
are or where you live or how much money you have, and get a good
education. We need to keep that, and no one wants to send that system
into chaos at this time. That is why people are speaking out.
As I mentioned earlier today, I have heard from thousands of people
in my home State who have contacted me with concerns about this
nomination of Betsy DeVos to be the Secretary of Education. An
overwhelming number of them are people who have spent time in our
classrooms with our kids; that is, our teachers. Many of them have
spent decades in public schools dedicating their own lives to helping
our children learn in school districts of all different sizes, and
those teachers deserve a voice today.
So I thought I would take a few minutes to tell my colleagues a
little bit about what I am hearing and why they believe we should
oppose Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education.
I heard from a teacher from my hometown of Bothell, WA, who wrote me
and said that public education is the basis of equality for all
students in this country. Our Founding Fathers recognized the
importance of having educated citizens and the need to provide it for
all of our children. Education for profit doesn't work. And we need to
do what we can to make sure we fight privatization of our education
system.
I heard from another woman in central Washington who works with low-
income students. As she noted, taking title I funding and putting it
toward private schools will be devastating to small communities. She is
echoing what I am hearing from rural communities across my State and
what I am hearing from many other Senators who have talked to me about
what they are hearing from rural communities in their States.
From Seattle, I heard from an educator who told me that she wanted to
see fellow educators--or at least people with some experience in our
public schools--running this Department. That is why she opposes Betsy
DeVos--no experience.
A retired teacher from Mercer Island asked me to oppose this
nomination. She has spent 37 years teaching children in our public
schools.
On the other side of my State, in Spokane, a 28-year teaching veteran
says strengthening public education is the best thing we can do for
schools like hers that are located in a high-poverty district.
In Prosser, a public school teacher and a former lawyer told me that
he is committed to both the public education system and the
Constitution. He called the nomination of Betsy DeVos an affront to
both, given what he called her track record of undermining public
schools and the need for separation of church and State. He said that
only through access to high-quality learning opportunities can we
remain free.
I heard from a teacher--also a parent--from Issaquah who said: ``This
nomination is very disappointing.'' In order to ``make America great
again'' she said we need fully funded schools for teachers who have the
time and the resources to prepare students to be lifelong learners.
In Monroe, WA, a teacher for 35 years says she is afraid of what
DeVos could mean to public education.
From Camano Island, a retired teacher of 31 years said all children
deserve the same access to high-quality public education.
A teacher from Vancouver School District tells me that our public
schools deserve better than someone who has called them a dead end,
adding that the Secretary of Education should be an advocate for the
principle of free, quality, and equal education. She worries that if we
don't defend public education from the views of Mrs. DeVos, then we
have failed the future of this democracy.
I received a succinct message from Dave in Seattle, in all caps,
where he writes: ``ABSOLUTELY NO.''
Those are just a few of the many, many people I am hearing from.
There are literally thousands and thousands more. I know that is true
from all of our colleagues here. Why? Because people are making their
voices heard loud and clear. They want a Secretary of Education with
real experience in public schools who is truly dedicated to
strengthening our public education system across the country.
I am proud to stand with my constituents and the public school
educators from Washington State to urge our colleagues to vote no on
Betsy DeVos.
We have had a good number of Senators here today to talk about this.
I know we are going to be spending Monday, Monday afternoon, into the
night Monday, Tuesday morning hearing from many other Senators and
having a very robust debate.
I hope that all of those who are listening, and everyone in this
country, stands up at this time and thinks about what public education
means to this freedom and this democracy, and I know they will, as they
have been continuing to let their voices be heard by their elected
representatives.
Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mrs. ERNST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
____________________