[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 20 (Monday, February 6, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S810-S824]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Nomination of Jeff Sessions

  Mr. President, now I would like to say a word--we will be saying more 
later--on Senator Sessions, who will be coming forward after we vote on 
Mrs. DeVos at noon today.
  The nominee for Attorney General has huge importance--far greater 
importance than the nominee would have had 3 or 4 weeks ago. We need a 
lot of discussion on that. What we have seen is a President who 
belittles judges when they don't agree with him. What we have seen is a 
President who is willing to shake the roots of the Constitution and a 
fundamental premise--no religious test--that is embodied within our 
Constitution within his first few weeks in office.
  We certainly need an Attorney General who will stand up to the 
President. We have seen other Attorneys General do it, most notably in 
the Clinton administration. Senator Sessions--I ride with him on the 
bike in the gym--is not--if you can say one thing about him, he is not 
independent of Donald Trump.
  He supported Donald Trump from the very beginning. Even when Donald 
Trump didn't look like he was going to be much of a candidate, if you 
had to pick someone who would not stand up to a President when the 
President goes too far--well, let's put it the other way. If you had to 
pick someone who would stand up to a President when the President goes 
too far on picking on the judiciary, on avoiding the tenants, breaking 
the tenants of the Constitution, whatever the legal case shows, you 
wouldn't pick Jeff Sessions.
  His record is clearly troubling. We will hear a lot more about it 
later. He is probably the most anti-immigrant Member of this body, 
Democrat or Republican. And many of us on this side believe that 
immigrants are an asset to

[[Page S811]]

America, not a liability. Many on the other side of the aisle probably 
do too. When it comes to voting rights--so important, so fundamental, 
and under attack right now--again, Jeff Sessions has not been a 
stalwart. He has had a record that leaves much, much to be desired. On 
the issue of civil rights as well, Senator Sessions' record is not a 
record that I think anyone who believes in civil rights could admire.
  We just had an acting Attorney General stand up to the President. 
That is going to be a real test in this administration because there 
seems so little regard for an independent judiciary and even for the 
Constitution itself. That is probably the most important quality of 
this new Attorney General. I have to say, as much as I agree with Jeff 
Sessions on an issue like trade, he is the wrong, wrong, wrong choice 
for Attorney General. He would be at any time because of his record on 
immigration, civil rights, and voting rights, but particularly wrong 
now because we need someone who has some degree of independence from 
the President.
  I am going to yield the floor. I hope one of our Republican 
colleagues will step up to the plate in a few hours, but even if they 
don't, we Democrats are very proud of what we have done here because 
the nominee is so unqualified and the American people now know it. That 
is an important tenet of this democracy, for the public to understand 
who is running the government.
  I hope my colleagues will listen to our arguments for the sake of 
America--not for any partisan sake--about the Attorney General in these 
very troubled times when it comes to the independent judiciary and the 
Constitution of the United States.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. UDALL. Mr. President, let me first of all begin by thanking 
Senator Murray for her leadership in terms of leading us to scrutinize 
this nominee, Betsy DeVos. It seems to me the more we dig into this, 
the more we look at it, the worse it gets. So I rise in strong 
opposition to the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of 
Education.
  Mrs. DeVos is nominated to lead our Nation's public education system. 
Yet she has worked for decades to privatize it and even to create 
profitmaking centers. She wants to siphon public funds to private 
schools. She has led a multimillion-dollar lobbying campaign to fund 
private, religious, and for-profit schools with public education 
dollars.
  We can all agree that we want our Nation's schools to be the very 
best they can be. We want our children to have all the opportunities we 
can provide, but that really is the issue. That is why Democrats have 
held the floor all night long to do everything in our power to convince 
the Senate to reject this nomination.
  I believe in the public school system. I want all of our children to 
have opportunities. That is the fundamental principle of our American 
school system. Everyone should be able to get a great education.
  Mrs. DeVos wants to dismantle our public schools. She would drain 
resources from the children and teachers who need it the most. I can't 
say it strongly enough: A vote for Mrs. DeVos is a vote to destroy our 
public school system. My constituents agree. We have received over 
63,000 emails and over 2,000 telephone calls in the last month alone 
opposing this nomination. These are recordbreaking numbers from my 
office for a Cabinet nominee. Many of those calls and letters are from 
public school parents and teachers, men and women who are dedicated to 
our students and our public education system. They understand that 
Betsy DeVos is not qualified to lead our Nation's public education 
system.
  Betsy DeVos is the first nominee in history for Secretary of 
Education with no experience in education or public administration. She 
is not a teacher. She is not a school administrator. She didn't attend 
public schools. Her children didn't attend public schools. She has 
never held a government position, let alone one in education. In fact, 
she has open disdain for government.
  Mrs. DeVos's complete lack of experience and profound lack of 
understanding of education policy were on full display during her 
confirmation hearing. Under questioning, it was clear that Mrs. DeVos 
was completely uninformed about the ongoing debate in education policy 
between proficiency and growth. This issue is critical. It is well 
documented that there is a correlation between test scores and 
students' socioeconomic status and race. So evaluating schools based on 
average test scores tends to penalize schools with large numbers of 
low-income and racial minority students. Even if those schools produce 
significant student growth on math and reading test scores, proficiency 
or growth is one of the most basic education policy questions, and yet 
the President's nominee for Secretary of Education doesn't understand 
the issue. Maybe this is because she has been single-mindedly focused 
on feeding private, for-profit charter schools with public dollars and 
the religious and other private schools through vouchers. So her 
knowledge about education is limited to her pet issue.

  Valerie Siow, who has taught in public schools in New Mexico for 13 
years, observed that Mrs. DeVos ``had not bothered to do her homework'' 
for the hearing. It is clear that Mrs. DeVos does not have the breadth 
or depth in education policy or finance to be the Secretary of 
Education.
  Senator Hassan has a son who has cerebral palsy. She told us a moving 
story about the good education he received in the New Hampshire public 
schools, despite his disability, because of the Individuals with 
Disabilities Education Act, or the IDEA.
  Senator Hassan asked if Mrs. DeVos would require schools using 
vouchers to comply with that law. Mrs. DeVos initially responded that 
she believes the decision should be left to the States. When Mrs. DeVos 
was informed that it is Federal law, that it is not up to the States, 
she responded that she must have been ``confused.'' Confused? Mrs. 
DeVos bragged that she has been an education advocate for 30 years. The 
IDEA was passed over 25 years ago, in 1990. Mrs. DeVos was not 
``confused.'' She plainly did not know what the Individuals with 
Disabilities Education Act is.
  It is very disturbing that she appears not to know how public schools 
educate and accommodate kids with special needs. Does she not know what 
an individual education plan is? She didn't know, as she said in a 
hearing to be Secretary of Education, that the millions of public 
school children with disabilities have a Federal right to a free and 
appropriate education.
  It is just as troublesome that Mrs. DeVos did not know that children 
with disabilities can lose their Federal right to an equal education 
under State voucher programs--voucher programs she has spent years 
advocating for. She did not know that voucher programs can require 
students with disabilities to sign away their IDEA rights. Most 
troubling of all, she would not commit to making sure voucher programs 
comply with the law.
  I am also quite concerned that Mrs. DeVos fails to appreciate the 
important role that tribal cultures play in educating Native American 
children. This Nation has a solemn trust and treaty responsibility to 
provide quality education to Native students, both through the public 
school system and the Federal Bureau of Indian Education. Her testimony 
has proven that she is uneducated about these students as well.
  Many States have significant tribal populations. In my home State of 
New Mexico it is about 10 percent. As vice chair of the Indian Affairs 
Committee, my job is to make sure that any Education Secretary is 
committed to respecting tribal sovereignty and self-determination. Mrs. 
DeVos has given me no assurance she understands, cares about, or is 
prepared to address the needs of Native American students. Nothing in 
her hearing or written answers convinced me that she will respect 
tribal cultures, tribal sovereignty, or the right to self-
determination. In fact, her lobby organization, American Federation for 
Children, supports the expansion of vouchers into Indian Country, 
diverting money from tribal schools to private schools. I cannot 
support taking money away from schools run by tribes and losing self-
determination efforts tribes are making.
  The National Indian Education Association has said: ``Federal funding 
should not be moving over to a private school system . . . move out of 
our

[[Page S812]]

tribally-run school system and to a system that does not require 
consultation and does not require active engagement of Native 
communities.'' I couldn't agree more. She just shows a basic lack of 
understanding of tribal sovereignty and self-determination.
  Betsy DeVos seems to be driven by her personal religious views. I 
respect the strength of her Dutch Calvinist religious beliefs, but 
imposing her religious beliefs should have no place in funding public 
education, which serves children of all beliefs.
  In 2001, she talked about whether Christian schools should continue 
relying on contributions instead of vouchers. Mrs. DeVos said:

       There are not enough philanthropic dollars in America to 
     fund what is currently the need in education. . . . Our 
     desire is to confront the culture in ways that will continue 
     to advance God's kingdom.

  I support her right to devote her philanthropic dollars to her church 
and other religious efforts, but I oppose her view of using public 
dollars to advance her view of ``God's kingdom'' in public schools. 
Separation of church and State is a fundamental principal in our 
democracy to protect people and communities from religious coercion by 
the government. I am concerned that Mrs. DeVos does not have the 
necessary respect for other people's religious beliefs and that her 
policies could disregard the importance of tribal perspectives on 
education.
  We need assurance that every public school student--no matter their 
religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or identity, ability or 
disability--will be respected, protected, and included at the highest 
levels in Washington, DC. That is the job of the Secretary of 
Education. Mrs. DeVos has not shown over the many decades she has 
lobbied on education that she agrees with this basic proposition.
  I support making good, quality public school options available. There 
are many great public charter and magnet schools around the country. We 
have some good ones in New Mexico. But these public schools should meet 
the same accountability standards as other public schools--standards 
for student achievement, teacher performance, and fiscal 
responsibility.
  I also support the option of private and religious schools. We have 
great private and religious schools in our country. But public dollars 
must go to public schools, not private or religious schools, and 
certainly not private for-profit schools. The first objective of any 
for-profit venture is to make money. That cannot be the first objective 
of a school using public funds.
  The first and foremost objective of public education funds should be 
education for students. When public dollars are used, their use must be 
fully accountable and transparent to the public. Betsy DeVos would not 
commit that private for-profit charter schools and voucher schools 
should have the same accountability standards as public schools. Why 
didn't she make this commitment? Likely, because the private charter 
schools in Michigan, funded by public dollars--that she has championed 
for decades--do not have to meet the same accountability standards as 
public schools. This is wrong. These same schools--her work for 
decades--have not shown appreciable gains in Michigan over the years. 
In fact, Michigan test scores have gone down over time. These schools 
have not shown significant improvement over public schools in Michigan.
  Finally, I am not convinced that Mrs. DeVos has been transparent in 
her responses to the American public. She did not make her disclosures 
available to the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee at 
the time of her confirmation hearing--this is unprecedented--and the 
committee had no opportunity to look into her many, many financial 
conflicts.
  Since then, she has entered into an agreement with the Office of 
Government Ethics. While she will divest from approximately 100 
investments that pose a conflict, we do not know if she has divested 
from all conflicts. Mrs. DeVos benefits from three trusts. She has not 
disclosed the assets in two of those trusts.
  The complexity and enormity of Mrs. DeVos's $5 billion holdings is 
mind-boggling. We know that from one trust at least 100 conflicts 
required divestment. Without transparency in other trusts, the public 
does not know if she has any more conflicts.
  I also want to raise the issue of Mrs. DeVos's unwillingness to 
address her PAC's unpaid $5.3 million fine in the State of Ohio for 
violating campaign finance laws.
  This situation is troubling on a number of levels. First, Mrs. DeVos 
led a multimillion dollar political effort to influence elections 
throughout our Nation. Second, while doing so, Mrs. DeVos's political 
action committee willfully ignored campaign finance laws and warnings 
from State election officials. She racked up an unprecedented $5.3 
million fine in Ohio. Then, third, rather than acknowledging that she 
broke the law and owning up to her responsibility to pay it, her PAC 
simply folded up shop and walked away.
  As Secretary of Education, Mrs. DeVos will be responsible for 
overseeing college loans for millions of students. Yet she refuses to 
acknowledge or pay her own debts. Does she believe the law doesn't 
apply to her?
  I have written to Mrs. DeVos and the HELP Committee several times 
demanding answers about this. Her responses were evasive. She refuses 
to pay the fine--hiding behind the corporate veil--while still paying 
lawyers to fight it. This is hypocrisy, on top of disregard for the 
law.
  We have never had a Cabinet nominee, who led a dark money PAC, which 
broke the law and flouted the judicial system. This is absolutely, 
totally, unprecedented.
  For all these reasons, I must vote no on the confirmation of Mrs. 
DeVos as Secretary of the Department of Education.
  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. BROWN. 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. BROWN. Mr. President, it is pretty clear. It is pretty simple. 
There never has been a nominee for Secretary of Education as 
unqualified as Betsy DeVos. That is clear to pretty much every Member 
of this body--not that every Member of this body is going to stand up 
and vote the way that probably their conscience suggests they do. 
Whether they like her ideology or not, whether they like the hundreds 
of millions of dollars they have contributed to all kinds of political 
campaigns or not, they clearly understand that this nominee, from her 
performance and her lack of depth of knowledge of education, is simply 
not qualified.
  As many have said on this floor, based on her confirmation hearing, 
it appears she has a complete lack of knowledge as to what the 
Department of Education actually does. She didn't seem to understand 
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which requires public 
schools to provide free and appropriate education to all students with 
disabilities.
  I think that when I first ran for Congress some years ago--I assume 
it was the same for the Presiding Officer; I know it was the same for 
the ranking member from Washington State who sits here in this Chamber 
and who has led the opposition to Betsy DeVos--from my first days in 
Congress, every time I met with school boards, every time I met with 
teachers, every time I met with school administrators, with principals, 
they would talk to me about IDEA. They would talk to me about school 
districts and the costs and their obligation and duty and desire to 
serve these students. Yet the designee for Secretary of Education put 
her hands up when there were discussions in the committee on the 
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
  It is astonishing that a nominee for Secretary of Education would 
demonstrate complete ignorance on something as crucial and important to 
public school education--to education as a whole--on this. It isn't her 
hearing performance alone that should disqualify her; it is her record. 
She has no experience with public schools at all.
  The President of the United States has nominated for Secretary of 
Education someone with no experience in public schools at all--not as a 
teacher, not as an administrator, not as a student, not even as a 
parent. Nothing. Her only experience in education is as

[[Page S813]]

a wealthy donor inheriting tens of millions of dollars herself. Her 
only experience in education is as a wealthy donor who spent millions 
of dollars advocating for for-profit--not charter schools like KIPP and 
Breakthrough in my State but for-profit charters in her State, the same 
policy that has ripped off taxpayers and failed students in Ohio. It 
betrays students, and it undermines and fleeces taxpayers.
  It is obvious that if she and her family hadn't donated $200 million 
to Republicans and to conservative causes, there is no chance someone 
this unqualified would ever have been nominated for a position as 
exalted, as crucial, as important as Secretary of Education. Two 
hundred million dollars apparently is the price for the Cabinet slot.
  So much for the President's campaign promise of draining the swamp. 
We see nominee after nominee, appointee after appointee coming from 
Wall Street. Now we see a $200 million contributor has also earned a 
Cabinet slot.
  Because of her crusade, more than 80 percent of Michigan's charter 
schools are operated for profit. She helped design one of the least 
effective charter school systems in the country in Detroit. This 
matters to me because I know a lot about what has happened with for-
profit charter schools in Ohio. For-profit charters have failed in 
Ohio. They have led to a charter school sector. Again, taking out KIPP 
and Breakthrough and the good charters that we have seen in Ohio, we 
have seen a charter school sector that has wasted taxpayers' money, 
that has funneled it to unaccountable for-profit companies, and that 
have been plagued by scandal after scandal.
  I take that personally in Ohio because I know how students have been 
betrayed by this for-profit sector, I know how taxpayers have been 
fleeced in my State in this for-profit sector, and I know the 
devastation it leaves behind in less money, fewer dollars for public 
schools.
  People call my State, regrettably, the ``Wild Wild West of charter 
schools.'' What a name to earn--Ohio is the ``Wild Wild West'' of for-
profit charter schools. Students suffer as a result. Students in public 
schools, students in for-profit charter schools, and students in not-
for-profit charter schools suffer as a result. The last thing we need 
to do is take the Wild Wild West model in Ohio or, even worse, the for-
profit charter school structure and model in Michigan and replicate it 
at a national level.
  This is important to remember: Of all the K-12 students in the 
country, public schools educate 90 percent of them, 90 percent of the 
students in this country. Betsy DeVos called traditional public 
education a ``dead end.'' Dead end for whom? She called traditional 
public education a ``dead end.''
  Think of what we have done in this country. From 1789, when George 
Washington took the oath of office, up until now, public education has 
built this country. It has given all kinds of people opportunity, given 
all kinds of people a chance to get ahead. It has educated our 
children. We should be proud of our public school system.
  We may confirm in the vote today a nominee who called a traditional 
public education a ``dead end,'' someone who has never worked in a 
public school, never gone to a public school, never been a parent of 
somebody in a public school.
  She said she doesn't think that all schools that receive taxpayer 
dollars--whether they are public or for-profit charter--should be held 
to the same standards of accountability.
  To me, one of the most telling moments of the committee hearing was 
when she would not commit to the same accountability standards for for-
profit charters as she did for public schools. Do you know why? Because 
she knows her for-profit charters that she is so proud of don't live up 
to the same standards and that they are simply not as good. That is why 
she doesn't want accountability measures applied equally to for-profit 
charters and public education.
  In Michigan, she fought a rescue plan for Detroit Public Schools that 
would have finally provided accountability for charters schools. No. 
She is against that. Why have lower standards for for-profit charters 
schools? Maybe that is because--I don't know about her investments. I 
don't think she has disclosed everything to the committee, but neither 
did Secretary-Designee Mnuchin. Neither did Secretary-Designee Price. I 
can go on and on. She doesn't want the same accountability for profit 
charters because it might hurt some of her investor friends.
  She funneled $25,000--mostly inherited money--every day to 
legislators of Michigan until this accountability proposal was 
defeated. It was probably not $25,000 every day, but over time it 
averaged $25,000 a day to legislators in Michigan so she could have her 
way. Talk about draining the swamp. Yet she can't seem to come up 
with--this I take personally too--the $5 million she owes to Ohio 
taxpayers for violating State election laws. What is that about? She 
came into Ohio with a political action committee that she mostly funded 
and that she was involved in in a number of ways.
  The Ohio Elections Commission and Ohio officials in a nonpartisan way 
found her guilty of campaign finance law violation. This committee was 
assessed a $5 million fine. Guess what. She quit putting money in this 
committee because she didn't want it to be subject to the fine. Our 
attorney general has not gone after her. He wants to be Governor, and 
he is a member of her party. I don't know their relationship or much 
care, but she is depriving our State of $5 million that she owes 
through this committee. Legally, she has found a way, with very 
expensive lawyers, to weasel out of it, to navigate her way through it.
  The fact is, by any standards of decency, she owes my State $5 
million. That could be 60 or 70 or 80 teachers. She cares about 
education. Paying a $5 million fine is probably like me paying 50 
bucks. She is a billionaire, and $5 million won't break her. She will 
hardly notice it. But she is going to be in charge of the Department of 
Education, which collects student loan debt from people coming out of 
school making $30 or $40 or $50,000 a year, burdened with tens of 
thousands in student loan debt and struggling every month to make those 
payments. Yet she owes $5 million, and she just says: Sorry, I am not 
going to pay it.
  Through this confirmation process, she will not even pay the debt of 
$5 million. Are my colleagues on the Republican side of the aisle 
saying it is OK to nominate her and confirm her even though she owes 
this money to my State? She sent us a letter finally last week because 
I asked her to explain herself in the promise to repay taxpayers in my 
State.
  She sent us a letter last week again refusing to take any personal 
responsibility for the legal action of this political action committee 
she founded. She chaired it at the time it broke the law, she paid the 
legal bills for it, but she wouldn't pay the fine that this committee 
owes, saying: I don't owe it.
  Is that who you want? Is that the kind of person you want in terms of 
personal integrity, personal responsibility? I don't know how many 
times I have been preached at in this body by my colleagues on personal 
responsibility. But she will not pay her $5 million debt. Again, she 
founded a political action committee. She chaired it at the time she 
broke the law. She paid the legal fees for it, but she will not pay the 
money she owes that could hire 60, 70, 80 teachers in my State.
  She spent millions pushing the same for-profit education model agenda 
that has ripped off Ohio taxpayers and shortchanged our students.
  Most people in this country used to think that billionaires are not 
above the law. In fact, some people--3 million fewer than voted for the 
other candidate--some people voted for this President because he said 
he would drain the swamp. If billionaires are, in fact, above the law--
if we are not holding Betsy DeVos accountable, it is hard to argue that 
billionaires are not above the law.
  She is opposed by the disability community. She is opposed by the 
civil rights community. She is opposed by a number of people in the 
more legitimate charter school community. She is opposed by teachers. 
Even the National Association of Principals has come out against her 
nomination. If Senator Murray's words are correct about this--and I 
know they are because we have talked to them--this is the first time in 
history that the National Association of Principals has come out 
against a Secretary of Education.

[[Page S814]]

  I can't support Betsy DeVos because I can't look Ohio's parents in 
the eye and tell them she will not put profits ahead of their 
children's education. Our children deserve better than that.
  In closing, I will come back to my comments about the Individuals 
with Disabilities Education Act, about which she knew nothing or knew 
little. I think how could a Secretary of Education-designate, who 
prides herself on knowing a lot about education, how could she not know 
much about IDEA? And then it occurred to me. If you are running a for-
profit charter school, you don't want disabled kids coming to your 
school. Why? Because it costs more to educate a disabled child than it 
does a child without any disabilities. It costs more because you might 
need more use of a nurse, a student aide, wheelchair accessibility, you 
might need special tutors. It costs more to educate a disabled child. A 
for-profit charter school doesn't want children with disabilities to 
walk through their doors or come in through a wheelchair through their 
doors. They can't make as much money.

  This is how we do privatization in this country: Let the public 
schools take care of the disabled, the child with disabilities, because 
we are in this for profit. It is a little bit like Medicare. The 
private for-profit insurance companies want the youngest, healthiest 
people in Medicare, the 65- and 70-year-olds who are active, who take 
walks, do all that. They don't really want the sickest and the oldest. 
Let taxpayers pay for them. That is exactly what her model of education 
is all about. Let the for-profit charters skim the cream, if you will; 
take the children who cost the least and are easiest to educate, but 
the public schools take care of the children with disabilities.
  Let the public schools take care of the children who maybe didn't 
have as much advantage in life as Betsy DeVos growing up. Let the 
public schools worry about the kids who might be a little more 
difficult because of discipline and other issues and what is going on 
in their homes. That is pretty clear how she looks at the world and 
looks at this job and, most importantly, how she looks at education in 
our country.
  That is what disturbs me. That is fundamentally why I oppose Betsy 
DeVos and plan to vote emphatically today, no.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Ohio for his 
passionate remarks on this topic. I have had the opportunity over most 
of Friday and over the last 23 hours, to listen to my colleagues come 
to the floor and speak passionately about an issue they care about, 
speaking against DeVos. We heard very little passionate speaking for 
Betsy DeVos, but we heard a tremendous amount of passion against.
  I want to thank the Senator from Ohio, in particular, speaking to the 
issue of the fact that Mrs. DeVos does owe a fine to Ohio that has not 
been paid. I find it incredulous that we are just dismissing that here 
and the Senators are voting for her.
  The Senator from Ohio spoke passionately about what vouchers would 
mean for students with disabilities, and their ability to get a good 
education could be in jeopardy over the vision that this Secretary is 
about to put forward.
  A few moments ago, I listened to the Senator from New Mexico speak 
about our tribal schools and the fact that this Secretary of Education 
has no knowledge of tribal education and her role in being in charge of 
that with no experience and no idea of what that means or how that will 
be enacted.
  Again, I want to just say that we heard from so many people in our 
States because we clearly have a nominee to run the Department of 
Education with no experience and a background that is really in 
opposition to what most of us have stood up for and fought for most of 
our lives. I have mentioned throughout this debate--as I have spoken 
numerous times about the tremendous amount of letters that have come to 
me through our mail over the last several weeks since this nominee came 
before our committee and the public had a chance to see Mrs. DeVos at 
our hearing, without the knowledge she needs to lead this agency, with 
the tremendous conflicts of interest that were portrayed over and over.
  I want to again go back and read some of those letters as we get into 
the last hour of this debate because I think they are quite telling.
  I have one from Dr. Jennifer Kay Lynn of Olympia, WA. She says to me:

       Thank you for your understanding Betsy DeVos would 
     devastate U.S. public education. Betsy DeVos's Senate 
     confirmation hearing underscored how unprepared she is to 
     serve as America's Secretary of Education. Mrs. DeVos has no 
     experience in public schools, either as a student, an 
     educator, administrator or even as a parent. Mrs. DeVos 
     doesn't understand key policy issues, like proficiency versus 
     growth, or the Federal role of the Individuals with 
     Disabilities Act.
       Mrs. DeVos would not even commit to upholding current 
     guidance on preventing sexual assault under title IX. Mrs. 
     DeVos has no idea of how the arts and public education are 
     critical for human development, education. All of the arts 
     help our students grow emotionally, with dedication to task 
     or more and more connections with the brain, and perhaps, 
     most importantly, find out how much the arts enhance their 
     lives. We need a Secretary of Education who will champion 
     innovative strategies that we know how to improve success for 
     all students, including creating more opportunities and 
     equity for all.
       Betsy DeVos is not that person, and I urge you to vote 
     against her for Secretary of Education.

  Those aren't my words. I didn't talk to Jennifer Lynn. She wrote to 
me because she saw this candidate come before our committee. She has 
looked at her record and has said: This is not what our country is 
about.
  I got a letter from Jamie Michaelson of Oroville, WA, very small 
community.

       Senator Murray, as a public school administrator, I am 
     extremely concerned about Betsy DeVos' lack of knowledge and 
     support for public schools. Having never been a teacher or 
     administrator is bothersome enough, but to have not attended 
     a public school herself, nor sent her kids to one, makes her 
     ill-equipped to making educational decisions.
       Furthermore, I worry about her understanding of small, 
     rural districts. We have our own unique needs, which include 
     funding professional development for teachers, Federally-
     funded programs for at-risk youth, and support to recruit and 
     retain high quality teachers.
       As a strong supporter of public education, I ask that you 
     oppose the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of the 
     U.S. Department of Education. We must have a Secretary who 
     can commit to supporting every student in our public schools, 
     and provide leadership that will help our neighborhood 
     schools succeed. Betsy DeVos' record in education and her 
     performance at the recent confirmation hearing proves she is 
     the wrong candidate for the job.
       As a principal, I have spoken with teachers, parents, 
     students and community members, who agree that America's 
     future depends on a strong investment in our Nation's public 
     schools.
       Thank you for your attention to this matter. I understand 
     that you are being inundated with emails concerning Cabinet 
     picks. I feel the nomination of Betsy DeVos is political. 
     Students, families and educators deserve a highly-qualified 
     candidate that understands our complex educational system. I 
     am not writing to you because I have a political motivation. 
     Instead, I am looking for the best of the best for the 
     Secretary of Education position. Unfortunately, in my 
     professional opinion, Betsy DeVos is not the right person for 
     this job.

  I couldn't agree more. Shouldn't we have the best of the best at the 
top of our education system today? That is what my constituents are 
asking--and I know many across this country are hoping that just one 
more Republican Senator will agree. That is what will occur in about an 
hour.
  I see my colleague on the floor who has come here to talk. I 
appreciate him being here, and I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.
  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, thank you for your leadership on this 
issue, and God knows, how many others. You are a force of nature. I am 
happy to be with you on this day.
  I come from Delaware, and we have about a million people who live in 
Delaware, and they are not shy about telling their congressional 
delegation--Senator Coons, Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester, and me--
what they are thinking. We go home just about every night. They get to 
tell us a lot of times in person. They also call our office. We have 
three offices in Delaware. They call our office here in Washington. 
They send us emails. We used to get a lot of letters, but now mostly we 
receive emails, not too many letters.
  I have never seen the kind of outcry, if you will, from the people of 
my State

[[Page S815]]

on any nomination. I have been privileged to serve. This is my 17th 
year. So we have seen a lot of nominations come and go, seen a number 
of Presidents come and go, but I have never seen anything quite like 
this.
  I asked my staff to compile for me, through yesterday, the number of 
folks who either called us or emailed or sent us letters on the 
nomination of Betsy DeVos to be Secretary of Education.
  As of yesterday, over 3,700 people had contacted my office. That may 
not be a lot from Oklahoma. That may not be a lot from California. That 
is a lot in Delaware. I ask my staff to break down--let us know if we 
heard from anybody outside of Delaware: over 700. Then I said, for the 
folks who contacted us from Delaware with respect to this nomination of 
Betsy DeVos, how many were for her? Out of over 3,700--10. I have never 
seen anything like that.
  So that means there are over 3,700 people in my State who raised 
their voice up against her nomination. Just because the numbers are 
like 370 to 1 against the nomination, that doesn't necessarily mean I 
should oppose the nomination, but it certainly makes me stop and think 
if I had been inclined to do so.
  I rise today, not just as a United States Senator, but as a 
recovering Governor and a father, one who knows the value of public 
education from personal experience. My wife and I grew up--she in North 
Carolina and me in West Virginia, a little bit of Ohio, and mostly 
Virginia--we grew up in public schools. Our sons attended public 
schools throughout high school, graduated and went off to college, and 
we are proud of what they have accomplished. They are 26 and 28 years 
old today. I am very proud of what they have accomplished. I have a 
stepson from my first marriage. He lives in Michigan. He raised a 
family, four children and his wife, and I am very proud of what he 
accomplished--again, a product of public schools.
  When I graduated from high school, I was fortunate to win a Navy ROTC 
scholarship and go to Ohio State. I worked a couple of jobs while I was 
going to school and was able to become one of the first people in my 
family ever to go to college and to graduate from college. I spent five 
as a naval flight officer during the Vietnam war. At the end of the 
war, I came back to the United States and moved to Delaware. There, 
thanks to the GI bill and continuing to fly as a Reserve P-3 aircraft 
mission commander, I was able to make ends meet and get a graduate 
degree in business administration from the University of Delaware.
  The 8 years I was Governor, from 1993 to 2001, I spent a big part of 
those 8 years focusing on creating a more nurturing environment for job 
creation, job preservation. Our Presiding Officer has heard me wax on 
in our committee--more often than he probably wants to remember--about 
a major job of government under State, local, Federal, is to create a 
nurturing environment for job creation, job preservation. In a family, 
you have breadwinners, people earning an income, making a way for 
themselves, for the rest, and our job is a whole lot easier.
  One of the keys to that nurturing environment is to make sure the 
young men and women coming out of our colleges, our high schools, our 
trade schools have the ability to read, to write, to think, to use the 
technology, and to have a good work ethic and go out and be a good 
employee for any employer who might hire them.
  Public education is personal for me. I have had this remarkable 
connection to it for my whole life. In our little State, I visit 
schools almost every week. We have a program called Principal for a 
Day. I have been Principal for a Day. It is from the State chamber of 
commerce. I joke and tell people I have been Principal for a Day in 
about half the schools in Delaware. It is probably not quite right but 
probably 30 or more. I keep running into kids who went to high school 
and say: ``I was your principal, did you know that? Only for a day, but 
it was a good day.'' I learned a lot from doing that.
  I mentored, for probably a couple of decades, a bunch of different 
kids, trying to help be a good role model for them and give them an 
extra person to be able to lean on and to count on.
  Just recently, I was over at the school a couple of miles from our 
home at Mount Pleasant Elementary, which has a terrific elementary 
school in the Brandywine School District in Northern Delaware. The 
Teacher of the Year there for the State was good enough to let me come 
by and shadow her for part of her day and see what a really terrific 
teacher does. During the 8 years I was Governor, one of the highlights 
of every year was the day I would host, in June at the end of the 
school year. We have 19 school districts. Each school district picked 
the Teacher of the Year. They have the chance to have lunch--the 
Delaware Teachers of the Year--and just to focus on their school 
districts and their schools and their classes, what was working to 
raise student achievement and really be inspired by all of them.
  I hear regularly from my constituents about the importance of public 
education. In fact, I was out running late Sunday afternoon, actually 
into the dusk. I was going by a Wawa on Philadelphia Pike, just north 
of Wilmington. Some guy came by and he rolled down his window. As I ran 
along, he said, ``Don't vote for that Betsy DeVos.''
  I said, ``Really. Can't get away from it.''
  But I hear it a lot. I hear the message loud and clear.
  Many of our colleges have covered this nomination at some length. But 
I think it bears repeating. I would just say this: Experience matters. 
Mrs. DeVos has, as far as I can tell, no experience in public education 
as a student, none as a parent, none as a teacher, none as a school 
administrator--none.
  Maybe that alone should not disqualify her, but it is concerning. 
During her confirmation hearing, Mrs. DeVos failed to answer the most 
basic questions relating to education policy, and she demonstrated, not 
just in my view but certainly the views of a lot of the people who 
watched and shared their views with me, that she was unqualified, 
really unprepared for what I think is a critical task.
  Many of my colleagues who support Mrs. DeVos point to her experience 
in Michigan, where Mrs. DeVos used her significant wealth and influence 
apparently to push an education reform agenda centered on vouchers, 
centered on for-profit charter schools that delivered questionable 
outcomes for students and taxpayers.
  Let me just say, I was a Governor who proposed legislation, signed 
legislation creating charter schools. I have been a champion of public 
charter schools in my State and in our country. I have been a champion 
here in the Congress. I am not a champion of all these for-profit 
colleges and universities that we have. Some of them are very good; 
some of them are not.
  I am concerned with the advent of for-profit charter schools, 
particularly those that are not doing the job, getting the job done and 
raising student achievement for the young men and women who are 
students there.
  Leading the Department of Education is a very big job. It is a very 
important job. The Secretary of Education is responsible for overseeing 
a budget of some $36 billion for K-12 education and $150 billion for 
higher education, as well as managing a portfolio of more than $1.2 
trillion in outstanding Federal student loans.
  I have been fortunate as a Congressman, as a Governor, as a Senator, 
to work with any number of Secretaries of Education in the 
administration of George Herbert Walker Bush, the administration of 
Bill Clinton, the administration of George W. Bush, and the 
administration of Barack Obama--people like Dick Riley, former Governor 
of South Carolina, people like Arne Duncan, who was a great school 
leader in Illinois and for our country as well. When I think of the 
giants they were and the work they did and how knowledgeable they were, 
how inspiring they were, how uplifting they were, that is the kind of 
leader we need. They were not just all in Democratic administrations or 
Democratic and Republican administrations. As much as ever, we need 
that kind of leader today.
  I will conclude by saying that Mrs. DeVos too often lacks experience, 
just as often has the wrong experience that we should expect from 
someone to lead the Department of Education at what is really a 
critical juncture for our country. I cannot support her nomination 
because I am not a convinced that she is interested in bringing 
Democrats

[[Page S816]]

and Republicans together on a shared vision of improving public 
education in this country. Reluctantly, I must urge my Democrat and 
Republican colleagues to listen to this groundswell of voices from 
across the country and ultimately oppose this nomination.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Flake). The Senator from Maryland.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, as the Senate deliberates the nomination 
of Betsy DeVos to be Secretary of Education, I have heard from more 
than 4,200 Marylanders who have called my office, more than 3,700 
Marylanders who have emailed me, and countless others who have sent me 
messages via Twitter and Facebook, and, as Senator Carper has 
indicated, those who have just stopped me on the streets and urged me 
to oppose her nomination.
  They have contacted me to express their strong support for public 
education, and they are concerned about whether Mrs. DeVos is equally 
committed to public schools. I share their concern. Marylanders and I 
agree that our children deserve an advocate in this position who will 
work to strengthen the ability of public school educators to serve our 
children.
  As a proud graduate of the Baltimore City Public Schools, I 
understand the transformative powers that quality public school 
education can provide a child. The education I received at city schools 
has allowed me, the grandchild of immigrants, to represent Maryland in 
the Senate. I owe that to my public education, my public school 
education.
  Maryland has made a commitment to providing adequate funding for 
public education over the past decade. Consequently, Maryland has 
consistently been a national leader in student performance and student 
outcomes.
  Each day, our State's nearly 880,000 students make their way to 
classrooms of more than 60,000 and thousands of more support personnel 
and education leaders in over 1,400 Maryland schools. I appreciate the 
service of Maryland educators, not only from the perspective of a 
lawmaker, a father, and a grandfather but also as a husband of a former 
school teacher.
  Mrs. DeVos appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions Committee to articulate her view on how to best serve our 
students as Secretary of Education. I found several of Mrs. DeVos's 
answers to the committee questions to be troubling, particularly what 
appeared to be her tepid support for our Nation's public schools; her 
failure to recognize the critical Federal civil rights safeguards for 
children with disabilities; her inability to offer an opinion on 
longstanding debates within the education community that she would be 
expected to join as Secretary of Education; her support for President 
Trump's dangerous campaign promise to eliminate gun-free school zones; 
and her overall lack of response on how to provide students and their 
families with affordable higher education.
  Maryland families know and understand the value of a high quality 
public school education. Since 2008, enrollment in our State public 
schools has increased by nearly 36,000 students to a record enrollment 
of approximately 880,000 students for the 2016-2017 school year.
  While enrollment has continued to increase at a record pace, I am 
proud that Maryland public schools have consistently ranked among the 
top five public school systems in the country.
  I worry that Mrs. DeVos's enthusiastic support for private school 
choice programs could hamper the progress in State and local education 
in Maryland and could prevent us from providing the highest quality 
level of education for our public school students. School choice 
programs that shift Federal fund dollars from public schools to defray 
tuition at private schools weaken the ability of Maryland's hard-
working public school professionals to deliver college- and career-
ready education for Maryland's diverse students.
  Certainly private schools play an important role in our education 
system. As Senator Carper points out, he supports, I support, charter 
schools within our public school system. I support the role that public 
schools play. But we mustn't forget that more than 91 percent of 
American children attend public schools. They and their families 
deserve a Secretary of Education who will fight to strengthen public as 
well as private education.
  School choice programs are not one-size-fits-all solutions to 
strengthen education in the United States. They leave out students in 
our rural communities, for instance, and have been shown in Maryland 
for the most part to support students who are already enrolled in 
private schools.
  I urge our Secretary of Education nominee--if she is confirmed--to 
work to provide our public school teachers with the training, tools, 
and resources necessary to provide all children with a high-quality 
education. I was particularly concerned by Mrs. DeVos's apparent 
unfamiliarity with critical Federal civil rights safeguards for 
children with disabilities, guaranteed under the 1975 Individuals with 
Disabilities Education Act, IDEA.
  IDEA ensures that every child with disabilities is afforded a free 
appropriate public education. Across my State, more than 100,000 
children receive federally funded services under the IDEA to help them 
succeed academically. Mrs. DeVos did not seem to know that States must 
follow this critical civil education rights law if they accept Federal 
funding.
  Parents across the country advocate for their children on a daily 
basis, utilizing the protections afforded to their children under the 
IDEA. They deserve a Secretary of Education who understands her 
responsibilities and the Federal Government's responsibilities to 
children with disabilities. Last year's enactment of the bipartisan, 
bicameral Every Student Succeeds Act was a true success.
  This was an incredible accomplishment put together by Senators 
Alexander and Murray. For the first time in 14 years, Congress 
reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, legislation 
that was first enacted 50 years ago as part of the civil rights era to 
ensure that all of our children are able to attain a high-quality 
education.
  That act eliminated the outdated and ineffective accountability 
system of adequately yearly progress and now provides States with the 
flexibility to decide their own accountability system to identify, 
monitor, and assist schools in need of improvement to best educate 
their students.
  We gave local flexibility but maintained accountability. That was a 
major improvement in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The 
modifications allow States to move away from reliance on a collective 
set of test scores to measure students' proficiency. Now, States will 
be able to design accountability systems that take into account student 
growth over the course of a school year.
  As Secretary of Education, Mrs. DeVos would be tasked with leading 
the Federal implementation and review of the State development 
accountability systems. But in a hearing before the committee, she 
struggled to understand the definition of proficiency versus growth and 
had to have committee members help her define those terms.
  Maryland educators oppose the high-stake testing requirements under 
the previous Federal accountability system. They deserve a Secretary of 
Education who understands the basic concepts of Federal involvement in 
our public schools, so they can effectively advocate for more accurate 
accountability systems that better show student growth in the 
classroom.
  Mrs. DeVos's expressed support for President Trump's misguided pledge 
to eliminate gun-free schools zones is deeply concerning. Maryland's 
families have made it loud and clear to me that this approach is wrong 
and would unnecessarily put our students in harm's way in the very 
classrooms in which they are expected to learn. Since 2000, there have 
been four school shootings across my home State. One shooting in a 
school anywhere in our country is too many. Each of those incidents is 
a tragedy, and I do not wish to see more students and educators put at 
risk of additional tragic incidents of gun violence by allowing 
firearms in our classrooms.
  Rather than support the Federal programs developed under the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act to provide additional funding 
for school-based mental health resources in our national public schools 
that can provide assistance for those who may commit gun violence at 
schools, Mrs. DeVos would spend those tax dollars on

[[Page S817]]

school choice programs and open up our classrooms to potential 
violence.
  In the coming months, future college students and their families will 
sit at their family kitchen tables to apply for financial aid to pay 
for college and await the news of their acceptance to the college of 
their choice. I have talked to so many Marylanders who are struggling 
with allowing their children to go to schools of higher education so 
that they can be best prepared, but they are looking at the realities 
of the cost involved in higher education. This is an exciting time, yet 
an increasingly anxious time for parents and students as the cost of 
attending college continues to rise.
  Mrs. DeVos needs to demonstrate that she is familiar with the 
process, the steps necessary to apply for Federal financial student 
aid, and appreciates the enormous burden families increasingly 
undertake to gain a foothold in the middle class through higher 
education.
  Mrs. DeVos appears willing to roll back protections for student 
borrowing and to allow taxpayer funds to be put at risk of failing for-
profit schools that do not provide students with the educational skills 
necessary to join the workforce. At a minimum, I would expect her to be 
an advocate to make sure that Federal funds are not used for these 
schools that are not being held accountable for what they do.
  I would like to hear Mrs. DeVos voice her support for America's 
College Promise plan to provide academically successful students with 
the ability to earn the first 2 years of their college degree tuition 
free at a community college. So far I don't think she has said 
anything. That is the most efficient way to try to educate our 
children.
  I appreciate Mrs. DeVos's willingness to serve, and I believe she is 
sincere in her beliefs, but I am concerned that those beliefs, if 
enacted, would harm the capability of America's public education system 
to serve the vast majority of students across the Nation and pile on 
needless costs to students, their families, and the American 
taxpayer. Therefore, I will stand with Maryland's students, teachers, 
and parents in opposing Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education.

  With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I have had the opportunity over the last 
almost 24 hours now to hear from a wide swath of our Democratic 
conference speak out against the nomination because they feel so 
strongly that in this country public education is a core principle. I 
know a number of my colleagues will be participating with me in these 
last few minutes, but I want to thank, again, everyone who has written, 
who has called in, who has expressed their opinion on this critical 
nominee that this President tapped to oversee education policy.
  Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, will the Senator yield for a question?
  Mrs. MURRAY. I yield to the Senator from Hawaii for a question.
  Mr. SCHATZ. I thank the ranking member of the HELP Committee, the 
senior Senator from Washington.
  You can trace the history of public education in America to the 
Original Thirteen Colonies. In 1635, boys in Boston could get a free 
education, and by 1647, the Massachusetts Bay Colony required every 
town to provide boys a basic education.
  Some 340 years later, our public education system has come a long 
way, but some things don't change. Our communities still understand how 
public education lays a foundation for success. It is still the great 
equalizer.
  Senator Murray, during Betsy DeVos's hearing, you asked a very 
important question. You asked: Can you commit to us that you will not 
work to privatize public schools or cut a single penny from public 
education?
  Mrs. DeVos responded by saying she would work to find common ground 
and give parents options.
  I am wondering whether you were satisfied with her answer and her 
commitment to the basic premise of public schools and public education.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Well, I thank the Senator from Hawaii for his question.
  He is absolutely right. I did ask Betsy DeVos, when she came before 
our committee, if she would commit to not privatizing our schools or 
cutting a single penny from public education, and she would not do 
that. She would not do that.
  To me, that sends a very clear message, and it did obviously to 
parents, students, and administrators across this country, that she was 
not committed to the core principle of public education, that our tax 
dollars in this country always have and should continue to be to make 
sure that every student, no matter where they are, will have the 
opportunity to participate in education. Her answer clearly meant that 
she was going to take money from our public education system, from our 
schools--big, small, rural, urban, and suburban--to go to private 
schools. That would mean a devastation for many communities.
  So I thank the Senator from Hawaii for his question.
  Ms. HASSAN. Mr. President, will the Senator yield for a question?
  Mrs. MURRAY. I yield to the Senator from New Hampshire.
  Ms. HASSAN. Thank you very much.
  Senator Murray, I have been very concerned, as you know, with Mrs. 
DeVos's lack of understanding of issues facing students with 
disabilities. My son Ben's experience in public education was made 
possible because there were so many families and advocates who came 
before my family to make his inclusion possible.
  Before IDEA, students who experienced disabilities in an 
institutional setting often didn't get an education at all and were 
often mistreated.
  Yesterday when I spoke on the floor, I discussed a woman in New 
Hampshire named Roberta who had been in our State school before IDEA 
was passed and gave accounts of terrible experiences there.
  Do you also have concerns with Mrs. DeVos's lack of understanding of 
the challenges faced by students who experience disabilities and her 
lack of commitment to ensuring that all students have a free and 
appropriate public education?
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I deeply share the concern of the Senator 
from New Hampshire. She came to the floor last night to speak 
eloquently about the challenges that our students with disabilities 
have and the promise that this country has made now for decades that if 
you are a student with a disability, you will be able to go to a public 
school and get the education that you need.
  She spoke eloquently. For everyone who didn't hear her, I ask you to 
go back and look at the Record and listen to it.
  Yes, I am deeply concerned that this nominee whom this President has 
sent to us is not committed to that basic premise that, no matter who 
you are or where you come from or what you look like or if you have a 
disability, you get a public education. But I am not only concerned 
that she doesn't have a commitment. I am deeply concerned that she 
didn't even understand that it was current Federal law.
  How can someone be a Secretary of Education in this country and not 
understand that basic premise and not give that commitment to people 
across the country that, if it is your child or someone you love or 
someone you know, they, too, can go to school and get what they need.
  So I want to thank the Senator from New Hampshire. And, yes, I am 
deeply concerned, as we all should be in this body and across the 
country, that this nominee is not prepared or qualified to make that 
basic assurance for all students in this country.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, my mom was a second grade teacher, and 
she taught second grade until she was 70 years old. That was her life's 
work.
  I went to public school, and I sent my daughter to public school. It 
has really been the core of how I ended up in the Senate.
  After a close review of Mrs. DeVos's confirmation record and the 
hearing, I have concluded that, like all of my colleagues on the 
Democratic side and two of our colleagues on the Republican side, I 
cannot support her. I don't believe she is prepared for this job, and I 
don't believe she is committed to the kind of public education that got 
my family from an iron ore mine in Northern Minnesota to the U.S. 
Senate.
  My question of Senator Murray is that one of the most troubling 
examples of this lack of preparation came

[[Page S818]]

when Mrs. DeVos was questioned by my colleagues Senator Hassan, who 
just spoke, and Senator Kaine about whether schools should meet the 
standards outlined by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. 
She said she would leave this decision to the States.
  As I noted yesterday, I occupied the Senate seat once held by 
Minnesota's own Hubert Humphrey. He was someone who, of course, was 
never at a loss for words.
  He delivered a speech at the Minnesota AFL-CIO 40 years ago, and one 
line of that speech is just as appropriate today as it was back then. 
He said: ``The moral test of government is how the government treats 
those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the 
twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of 
life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.''
  These civil rights protections and the funding that we have seen 
under IDEA have always been an area of bipartisan cooperation. I have 
heard from so many parents in my State.
  A mom from Watertown with a son who was born with Down syndrome says 
that thanks to IDEA, this law has given her the opportunity for her son 
to participate in a normal education.
  For a woman from Lakeville, her son was born with developmental 
disabilities in the late 1980s. She was so worried about what his 
future would be. Then that law was put into place, and today he is a 
successful young adult who happily lives, learns, and works in his 
community.
  So my question of Senator Murray is what her views are of the 
nominee's qualifications when it comes to the Individuals with 
Disabilities Education Act and the concern that she has heard from 
others in her State as well as across the country when it comes to this 
very important issue for our children.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I want to thank the Senator from 
Minnesota, who came the other night to talk passionately about her own 
mother, who was a teacher and her favorite course to teach was about 
the monarch butterfly and how she would come dressed up as a butterfly 
and how she impacted a young student in her classroom who is now a 
young adult and still remembers the learning experience that her 
mother, as a teacher, gave to him. That spark is so important for every 
child in this country--that spark for education--no matter who you are, 
your disability, or what brings you to school that day. That is what is 
so important about the term ``public education.'' Every child in this 
country deserves a public education and to reach their full potential, 
no matter what they look like, how they come to school that day, 
whether they have been fed or have a disability. That spark is what is 
so important.
  That is why so many people have spoken out in this country about this 
nominee, who knows nothing or very little about IDEA--not even that it 
is a Federal law that is under the jurisdiction of the Department that 
she is seeking and that she would oversee and protect those students. 
That, to me, is deeply disappointing. It says to me that this President 
should say: I don't want this nominee to go forward. I will send you 
someone who understands this law.
  I appreciate the question from the Senator from Minnesota.
  Mrs. McCASKILL. Mr. President, will the Senator yield for a question?
  Mrs. MURRAY. I yield for a question.
  Mrs. McCASKILL. I say to the Senator, it is my understanding that the 
essence of Mrs. DeVos's career has been an effort to impose on States 
programs--and now a Federal Government program--that will take money 
out of public schools to provide for parents and students to then go to 
private schools. Is it a fair characterization of the essence of her 
career that parents should have a choice with public money to decide 
whether they want to attend a public school or a private school?
  Mrs. MURRAY. The Senator is correct. The essence of what she has 
promoted and used her vast wealth for and has worked for throughout her 
experience is to take money away from public education and put it into 
private schools.
  Mrs. McCASKILL. So I am confused.
  We just had an election. In my State, the reddest parts of my State 
are parts of the State where there are no private schools--rural 
Missouri. I am a daughter of rural Missouri. My father went to public 
school in Houston, MO. My mother went to public school in Lebanon, MO. 
I attended public school in Lebanon, MO, and Columbia, MO. In fact, I 
am a product of public education from beginning to end. Both of my 
parents went to the University of Missouri, and so did I.
  In rural areas of this country, there are no private schools for 
parents and kids to choose. They would have to drive miles. By the way, 
in my State, the newly elected Governor just cut transportation funds 
for public schools--just cut them. So they now have less money for 
transportation than they had last year. And, by the way, it isn't like 
public schools are getting fully funded in my State. They are not.
  So I guess what I am confused about--I know what public schools mean 
to rural Missouri. I know they are the essence of the community. If the 
essence of this woman's career is to take money out of public schools 
in rural communities and put them in private schools that will never 
exist in many of these small communities, they are kicking the shins of 
the very voters who put them in power.
  I don't get that. I don't get that, Senator. I don't understand how 
you could give the back of your hand to rural America with this 
decision. I would implore my colleagues who understand that rural 
America is where their base is in large part that they are misreading 
this vote if they think that rural America is going to forget that this 
woman wants to rob the public schools of rural America and put in 
private schools in the cities, which they will never be able to attend.
  I thank the Senator.
  Mrs. MURRAY. I thank the Senator for her question. I just want to say 
that she is absolutely right. The money is not magic. It doesn't just 
get printed to give vouchers to schools. It comes from our public 
schools. As she stated so eloquently, there are many schools--some in 
rural areas, some in urban areas, or mostly in rural, and there is no 
private school to send your kids to. That voucher money, that public 
money, those taxpayer dollars will come away from those schools. They 
will have less money, but it won't go to the advantage of those 
students, and they will be left behind.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, will the distinguished Senator yield for 
a question?
  Mrs. MURRAY. I yield for a question.
  Ms. STABENOW. Thank you very much. Before asking my question, I want 
to thank the senior Senator from Washington State for her leadership 
and passion on behalf of my children and on behalf of myself. As a 
product of a small rural school in Northern Michigan, my two children 
went to public school, and my two grandchildren are now going to public 
schools.
  I want to thank you for your leadership, and I am so grateful to all 
of our colleagues and our two Republican colleagues who are joining us 
today.
  Would you agree that when we look at this--and I certainly have a 
bird's-eye view. We in Michigan have lived what has happened in cutting 
public schools and moving dollars to private, for-profit, nonprofit 
charters without virtually any accountability. Would you agree that 
essentially we have a nominee who is looking through a lens of a 
private sector for-profit model, where in the private sector we have 
winners and losers, so you can have a business open and close. That is 
based on our private marketplace. It works well, but in education it is 
different. We can't afford for any of our children to be losers in 
education, and it just doesn't work to have this competitive 
marketplace; that what we need is a quality public school along with 
public choices. I support public charters with accountability and other 
choices, but what we have is a view of a nominee, someone who has not 
been involved in public schools herself, or her children, and so on, 
who comes at it from this perspective of winners and losers in the 
private market, and we cannot afford any child to be a loser as it 
relates to their education.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Well, I want to thank the Senator from Michigan for that 
question because it is at the heart of what this entire debate is 
about. We

[[Page S819]]

have a nominee who has come forward who is quite successful in private 
business--a billionaire herself--whose idea and vision for our Nation's 
education comes from a private business perspective.
  The Senator from Michigan is absolutely right. Our schools are not 
about profits. They are not profit centers, and we can never run them 
that way because there is a core principle that this country was 
founded on that our forefathers very wisely thought of. They wanted to 
make sure that every young person in this country, no matter who they 
were and how much money they had, would get a public education.
  You can't run that as a for-profit business because there are kids 
who come to our schools who are very hard. Maybe they come without 
having had a parent home the night before, they come hungry, they come 
with disabilities, they come with challenging education experiences. We 
can't throw those kids out because there are other kids who come with 
parents who are very active and are really bright and we want to keep 
them because they are better for profit. We have to run our public 
education schools so every child has that opportunity because who knows 
who that young child is going to be who takes that nugget of public 
education and ends up sitting here in the U.S. Senate. That is the 
foundation of our country.
  I really appreciate the Senator from Michigan for raising that 
because that is the core essence of why so many people have spoken out 
against this nominee, who stood up and have written us letters and made 
phone calls and stood at rallies and spoken out--many people who have 
never spoken out on issues before who have never really paid attention 
before, but this is about the core principles our country was founded 
on, a public education for all--not a profit education for all but a 
public education for all.
  Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, will the Senator from Washington yield 
for a question?
  Mrs. MURRAY. I will yield to the Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. MERKLEY. I appreciate your point and the belief that the son or 
daughter of a millwright, a mill worker as I was, should have the same 
opportunity as the son or daughter of a CEO in a big company. That is 
embedded in the notion of quality public schools.
  What I was really struck by was that DeVos wants to divert all these 
public funds from our schools to for-profit schools, and if it is for-
profit, you squeeze down the services in the school to maximize the 
profit, and that is just exactly the type of attack on our children 
that we can't tolerate, but I was also struck about how she imposes the 
accountability for these alternative schools. The columnist Stephen 
Henderson of the Detroit Free Press said:

       Largely as a result of DeVos's lobby, Michigan tolerates 
     more low-performing charter schools than just about any other 
     State. It lacks any effective mechanism for shutting down or 
     even improving failing charters.

  He goes on to say:

       We are a laughingstock in national education circles and a 
     pariah among reputable charter school operators who have not 
     opened schools in Detroit because of the wild west nature of 
     the educational landscape here.

  Do you share the concern about the complete lack of accountability of 
these for-profit schools that are pulling the funds out of our public 
schools in Michigan?
  Mrs. MURRAY. Let me thank the Senator from Oregon for his question 
because he raises a very important point. No one is debating whether we 
want our kids to have a choice. The debate here is about whether or not 
those schools that take taxpayer dollars through a voucher system are 
accountable to the taxpayers who are paying for those vouchers.
  This nominee came before our committee and very clearly stated that 
she would not equally hold accountable private schools. Now, I was a 
former school board member, and I can tell you, I was there late many 
nights listening to parents who stood before us and talked about the 
fact that they wanted to make sure that their school had good teachers 
or their school had good policies, and we were accountable to that 
because we were an elected board, and we had to make decisions based on 
what our constituents thought was important.
  These are our constituents who are paying their tax dollars to this 
country, and they want to know that their taxes are used accountably. 
Yet we have a nominee before us at the Department of Education who has 
said she wants to take those taxpayer dollars--your money--and send it 
on to private schools with no accountability. What does that mean? That 
could mean that those private schools don't necessarily have to provide 
a strong curriculum in specific topics. It means they can let kids out 
of school and say: We don't want to keep you here anymore. You are too 
tough to teach.
  It can say that they will not keep records of dropout rates so we 
know whether or not they are encouraging these tough kids to go to 
another school. They can actually deny access to students with 
disabilities or who come from tough backgrounds who may not meet their 
standards, and they will not be held accountable under the policies 
that Ms. DeVos proposes. So the Senator raises an absolutely critical 
question. At the end of the day, each elected official in this country 
is held accountable to their taxpayers to assure that the money they 
give out in their taxes is used in a way that our country agrees on, 
and this Secretary of Education says: Nope. We want to change that. We 
want your tax dollars to go to schools that are not accountable to you.
  Mr. MERKLEY. I thank the Senator from Washington for her answer. So 
often I have heard speeches about accountability from across the aisle. 
This is a case where accountability matters a tremendous amount because 
it determines whether our children have a fair shot at driving America. 
So I thank the Senator from Washington for elucidating us in regard to 
that issue.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, we have a number of Senators who have 
been on the floor who are here now and who would like to speak, and I 
ask unanimous consent that I continue this dialogue with Senators until 
a quarter to 12, and the last 15 minutes be equally divided between the 
chairman of the committee and myself.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Reserving the right to object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. That would mean the chairman of the committee would 
speak last.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, let me revise my request. I ask unanimous 
consent that we continue to have this conversation until a quarter to 
12 p.m.; that at a quarter to 12, I will give my final remarks and 
divide equally the last 15 minutes so the chairman of the committee has 
the last 7\1/2\ minutes.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. I have no objection.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. DUCKWORTH. Will the Senator yield for a question?
  Mrs. MURRAY. I will yield to the Senator from Illinois.
  Ms. DUCKWORTH. I do not believe that the President nominated the best 
candidate to serve as Secretary of Education. I don't believe he even 
nominated a qualified candidate. Mrs. DeVos has never taught, never 
worked in a school system, and has no educational degree in education 
policy.
  I was hoping that she would ease my concerns over her qualifications 
at the confirmation hearing and prove that she was indeed up for the 
job, but, instead, Mrs. DeVos failed to study, showed up unprepared, 
and appeared unfamiliar with the foundational civil rights law that 
guarantees every student, including those with disabilities, the right 
to a quality equitable education.
  I would not be here today were it not for strong public schools and 
civil rights protections. Confirming her to lead the agency tasked with 
educating our children and helping them develop into successful adults 
would be a mistake for our children because they would have to pay for 
and live with this mistake for decades to come. There is simply no way 
that I can support her nomination.
  I ask the Senator, how is it possible that we could have a Secretary 
of Education who does not understand or even know about those Federal 
protections

[[Page S820]]

for students with disabilities to have access to equitable and fair 
education?
  Mrs. MURRAY. I want to thank the Senator from Illinois, who is an 
amazing new and great Member of our Senate. She comes from Illinois. 
She comes from an incredible background and is asking a critical 
question about whether our students with disabilities should have 
access to education.
  It is a passion many of us have feelings about, it is a principle 
that our country has supported, and it is a principle that this nominee 
is uniquely unknowledgeable about and, to me, that is reason enough for 
any of us to vote against that nominee.
  Mr. FRANKEN. Will Senator Murray yield for a question?
  Mrs. MURRAY. I will yield to the Senator from Minnesota for a 
question.
  Mr. FRANKEN. Thank you. As Senators on opposite sides of the aisle, 
we have philosophical differences, but one thing I think we all agree 
on is that our Cabinet Secretaries must be qualified and up to the 
challenge of running an agency.
  Betsy DeVos has demonstrated that she is not qualified to run the 
Education Department. I would say to my colleagues on the other side of 
the aisle, if you watched her confirmation hearing, you would know 
that. It was the most embarrassing confirmation hearing I have ever 
seen. She could not answer the most basic questions about education. So 
I ask my Republican colleagues, if Mrs. DeVos's performance in this 
hearing didn't convince you that she lacks qualifications for this job, 
what would have had to have happened in that hearing in order to 
convince you?
  If we cannot set aside party loyalty long enough to perform the 
essential duty of vetting the President's nominees, what are we even 
doing here?
  Let's do our job for the sake of the children and for the sake of our 
Nation's future. Thank you.
  Mrs. MURRAY. I say thank you to the Senator from Minnesota, and I 
want to thank him for being a committed part of our committee, really 
helping us all recognize that this nominee is not qualified.
  I see the Senator from Hawaii who has, I believe, the last question.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii.
  Ms. HIRONO. Will the Senator from Washington yield for a question?
  Mrs. MURRAY. I will yield to the Senator from Hawaii.
  Ms. HIRONO. As we have spent many hours debating whether Mrs. DeVos 
is the best person to head our Department of Education, my question is, 
Do you think Betsy DeVos is the best prepared, the best experienced, 
and the best committed person to lead as the Secretary of the 
Department of Education?
  With your indulgence, I would like to put this into a little bit of a 
context because we talk about how foundational public schools are and 
how education is a great equalizer. I speak from experience as an 
immigrant coming to this country not speaking any English, and I 
learned from the public schools and the committed teachers in public 
schools how to read and write English, to develop my love of reading, 
to count on an education system to prepare me for success, not only in 
school but in life.
  That is why I want to also ask my colleague from Washington State, 
for the nearly 200,000 young people in Hawaii who attend our public 
schools and obviously the millions of young people in our public 
schools throughout the country, Do you think Betsy DeVos is the best we 
can do for these people who are attending our public schools?
  Mrs. MURRAY. I thank the Senator from Hawaii, and I think that is the 
question all of us should be posing to ourselves as we get down to the 
final few minutes. Is this the best of the best?
  Is this a knowledgeable candidate who understands the Federal law?
  Is this a candidate who comes to us without conflicts of interest?
  Is this a candidate who is willing to stand up and be the defender of 
all young children in schools?
  To me and to many of my colleagues who have been out here speaking, 
she is not.
  I want to thank all of my great colleagues who have been out here 
speaking from their heart about a passion that they have in this 
country for a candidate to lead the Department of Education who is 
qualified, who is prepared, who is ready to stand up and fight for 
every child no matter where they live or where they come from.
  With that, Mr. President, I believe we are down to the last 15 
minutes before the vote, with the time equally divided.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, as I noted, Democrats have been here on 
the Senate floor for the past 24 hours straight, talking about the 
importance of public education, sharing stories from parents and 
students and teachers in our home States, highlighting all of the 
reasons for Senators to stand with us and stand with their 
constituents, stand with other Republicans who are doing the right 
thing, and urging them to say no to Betsy DeVos and her plans to 
privatize public school and destroy public education in America.
  But I come to the floor today to make one final push before this 
vote, to make the case one last time, because we are so, so close and 
because this is so important and also because we have a real shot right 
now to show people across the country that the Senate can actually 
listen to them, that their voices matter, and that their Senators put 
them and their kids and their families and their futures above loyalty 
to a party or a President.
  I have talked about my frustration with the fact that Republican 
leaders did everything they could to jam this nominee through the 
Senate. They cut corners and rushed into a hearing before her ethics 
paperwork was in. They blocked Democrats from asking more than 5 
minutes of questions, forcing a vote before all of our questions were 
answered about her tangled finances and her potential conflicts of 
interest, and rushed straight from the committee vote to the shortest 
possible floor debate they could manage.
  So I won't spend more time on that today because the truth is that 
despite Republicans' best efforts, people across the country have 
learned a whole lot about Betsy DeVos over the past few weeks, and the 
more they have learned about her, the less they have liked and the more 
outraged they have become.
  Over the past few weeks, people have learned about Betsy DeVos's 
tangled finances and potential conflicts of interest and how she and 
her family have given hundreds of millions of dollars to Republicans 
and extreme conservative groups. They have learned about her failed 
record, how she spent her career and her inherited fortune pushing 
anti-public school policies that have hurt so many students in her home 
State of Michigan and across the country. They have learned about the 
extreme rightwing ideology that drives her, how she wants to bring her 
anti-government, free-market-above-all philosophy to an education 
system that she has called nothing more than ``an industry, and a dead 
end.''
  When people saw her in her hearing, they learned even more. When they 
watched Betsy DeVos in that hearing room, when they saw it live on the 
evening news, on ``The Daily Show,'' on ``The View,'' and on many other 
shows covering it, and one of the many clips that went viral on social 
media or shared by a friend or a family member, a whole lot of people 
were introduced to Betsy DeVos for that first time in that hearing, and 
they were not impressed. People across the country saw a nominee who 
was clearly ill-informed and confused, who gave a number of very 
concerning responses to serious and reasonable questions.
  In that hearing, Betsy DeVos refused to rule out slashing investments 
in or privatizing public schools. She was confused that Federal law 
provides protections for students with disabilities. She didn't 
understand a basic issue in education policy--the debate surrounding 
whether students should be measured based on their proficiency or their 
growth. She argued that guns needed to be allowed in schools across the 
county to ``protect from Grizzlies.'' And even though she was willing 
to say that President Trump's behavior toward women should be 
considered sexual assault, she would not commit to actually enforcing 
Federal law protecting women and girls in our schools. Those were just 
a few of the moments in that hearing that made it clear why Betsy DeVos 
is not qualified to do this job. There were many more.

[[Page S821]]

  What people saw in that hearing wasn't just a nominee who didn't 
understand the issues; they saw a nominee for Secretary of Education 
who clearly didn't think about public education and public schools the 
way they do. For most people, public education hits really close to 
home. It is part of who we are, our families, and our communities. So 
many of us owe everything we have to public education. We have watched 
our kids and our grandkids and our neighbors get on the bus to go to 
their local public school. Many of us have taught in public schools or 
have family or friends who walk into classrooms every single day to 
help our students learn. And so many of us believe in a commitment to 
strong public schools that offer an education and opportunity to every 
student. It is a core part of the American promise.
  So when we saw someone nominated to this position who knows so little 
about public education, who so clearly cares so little about public 
education, whose strongest connection to public schools is through her 
dedication to tearing them down, that struck a real chord with a whole 
lot of people, and they decided to make their voices heard.
  Over the past two weeks, we have seen an unprecedented level of 
engagement from people on this nomination--tens of thousands of calls, 
thousands of letters, hundreds of people calling in, social media, and 
many of them have never been involved or made their voices heard 
before. It made a difference. Right now, every single Democrat is 
opposing this nomination, and two Republicans who listened to their 
constituents are joining us. So we are dead even--the first time in 
history that the Vice President will be called on shortly to cast a 
tie-breaking vote on a Cabinet nominee. We just need one more 
Republican to join us to prevent that from happening, one more to help 
us show the people across this country that their voice matters in this 
debate, one more to stand with people across the country and say no.
  So I am here to finish this debate where we started--standing with 
students and parents and teachers, with the people of my home State of 
Washington and across the country who strongly support public schools 
and true education opportunity for all, and with Democrats and 
Republicans across the country who have poured their heart and soul 
into opposing this nominee. I stand with you.
  I urge one more Republican to join us.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, will you please let me know when 4 
minutes has expired and then when 5 minutes has expired, and then I 
will allocate to the Senator from South Carolina the last 2\1/2\ 
minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair will so advise.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I am voting for Betsy DeVos because she 
will implement our law fixing No Child Left Behind the way we wrote 
it--to reverse the trend to a national school board and restore control 
to classroom teachers, to local school boards, to Governors, and 
legislators--because she has been at the forefront of the most 
important public school reform in the last 30 years--public charter 
schools--and because she has worked tirelessly to give low-income 
children more of the same kind of choices that wealthy families have.
  Twenty-two Governors in this country support Betsy DeVos.
  I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record their names, 
including former Governor Jeb Bush, former Governor Mitt Romney, former 
Governor John Engler, and 462 organizations and elected officials who 
support Betsy DeVos for Education Secretary.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                   Highlights Among DeVos Supporters


  These individuals have written letters, op-eds, or announced public 
                                support

       22 State Governors, including:
       Gov. Robert Bentley, Alabama; Gov. Doug Ducey, Arizona; 
     Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Arkansas; Gov. Rick Scott, Florida; Gov. 
     Bruce Rauner, Illinois; Gov. Eric Holcomb, Indiana; Gov. Sam 
     Brownback, Kansas; Gov. Matthew Bevin, Kentucky; Gov. Paul 
     LePage, Maine; Gov. Rick Snyder, Michigan; Gov. Phil Bryant, 
     Mississippi; Gov. Eric Greitens, Missouri; Gov. Doug Burgum, 
     North Dakota; Gov. Pete Ricketts, Nebraska; Gov. Brian 
     Sandoval, Nevada; Gov. Chris Christie, New Jersey; Gov. 
     Susana Martinez, New Mexico; Gov. John Kasich, Ohio; Gov. 
     Mary Fallin, Oklahoma; Gov. Bill Haslam, Tennessee; Gov. Greg 
     Abbott, Texas; Gov. Scott Walker, Wisconsin.
       Former Governors:
       Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, John Engler.
       4 Former Education Secretaries:
       William Bennett, Rod Paige, Margaret Spellings, Lamar 
     Alexander.
       Former Senators:
       Joe Lieberman and Bill Frist.
       Democrats including:
       Eva Moskowitz, founder and CEO of Success Academy Charter 
     Schools; Anthony Williams, former Mayor of Washington, DC.
                                  ____


                  462 Organizations, elected officials


National Support for the Nomination of Betsy DeVos to be U.S. Secretary 
                              of Education

       50 CAN--50 State Campaign for Achievement Now; ACE 
     Scholarships; Agudath Israel of America; Air Force 
     Association; Alabama Federation for Children; Alabama 
     Secretary of State John H. Merrill; Alabama State Sen. Del 
     Marsh, President Pro Tem; Alaska Rep. Charisse Millett, House 
     Republican Leader; American Federation for Children; American 
     Association of Christian Schools; Americans for Prosperity; 
     Americans for Prosperity--Arizona; Americans for Tax Reform; 
     Arizona Chamber of Commerce; Arizona Charter Schools 
     Association; Arizona Federation for Children; Arizona State 
     Sen. Steven Yarbrough, President; Arizona State Sen. Kimberly 
     Yee, Majority Leader; Arizona State Sen. Gail Griffin, 
     Majority Whip; Arizona State Sen. Debbie Lesko, President Pro 
     Tem; Arizona State Sen. Sylvia Allen, Education Committee 
     Chair; Arizona State Rep. J.D. Mesnard, Speaker of the House; 
     Arizona State Rep. John Allen, Majority Leader; Arizona State 
     Rep. Kelly Townsend, Majority Whip; Arizona State Rep. T.J. 
     Shope, Speaker Pro Tem; Arizona State Rep. Don Shooter, 
     Appropriations Chair; Arizona State Rep. Paul Boyer, 
     Education Committee Chair; Arizona State Rep. Tony Rivero; 
     Arkansas Secretary of State Mark Martin; Associated Builders 
     and Contractors (ABC); Association of Big Ten Students, 
     Former Director Adi Sathi; Association of Christian Schools 
     International; Association of the United States Army; 
     Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, West Virginia; Attorney 
     General Leslie Rutledge, Arkansas.
       Attorney General Bill Schuettee, Michigan; Attorney General 
     Alan Wilson, South Carolina; Ave Maria University Associate 
     Professor Michael New; Barry Beverage, Teacher, Fayetteville 
     Christian School; First Lady Barbara Bush; Barbara Bush 
     Foundation for Family Literacy; The BASIC Fund; Secretary of 
     Education William Bennet; Black Alliance for Educational 
     Options; Bowdoin College Professor Jean Yarbrough; Business 
     Council of Alabama; California State Sen. Jean Fuller, Senate 
     Republican Leader; Calvin College President Emeritus Gaylen 
     Byker; Mark Campbell, United States Naval Academy; 
     CarolinaCAN; Catholic Partnership Schools, Camden, NJ; Career 
     Education Colleges and Universities (CECU); Center for 
     Arizona Policy; Center for Education Reform; Charter Schools 
     USA; Kevin P. Chavous; Former Member, Council of the District 
     of Columbia; Vice President Dick Cheney; Lynne Cheney; 
     Children's Education Alliance of Missouri (CEAM); Children's 
     Scholarship Fund, Chair Mike McCurry; Children's Scholarship 
     Fund--Baltimore; Children's Scholarship Fund--Buffalo 
     (BISON); Children's Scholarship Fund--Charlotte; Children's 
     Scholarship Fund--Philadelphia; Children's Scholarship Fund--
     Portland OR; Civitas--North Carolina; Collaborative for 
     Student Success; Colorado State Board of Education Member 
     Steve Durham; Colorado State Board of Education Member Pam 
     Mazanec; Colorado State Rep. Paul Lundeen.
       Colorado State Rep. Clarice Navarro; Colorado State Rep. 
     Libby Szabo (Former), Jefferson County Commissioner; Colorado 
     State Sen. Kevin Grantham, Senate President; Colorado State 
     Sen. Owen Hill; Colorado State Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, Senate 
     President Pro Tem; Connecticut State Sen. Michael McLachlan, 
     Deputy Senate Republican; Connecticut State Rep. Vincent 
     Candelora; Cornell Law School Professor William Jacobson; 
     Cornerstone University, President Joseph Stowell; Delaware 
     State Sen. Gary Simpson, Senate Republican Leader; Delaware 
     State Sen. Greg Lavelle, Senate Republican Whip; Delaware 
     State Sen. Anthony Delcollo; Delaware State Sen. Ernie Lopez; 
     Delaware State Sen. Brian Pettyjohn; Ed Choice; Educate 
     Nebraska; Education for a Brighter Future; Empower 
     Mississippi; Ferris State University, President David Eisler; 
     Florida Charter School Alliance; Florida Coalition of School 
     Board Members; Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam 
     Putnam; Florida State Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater; 
     Florida State Rep. Michael Bileca; Florida State Rep. Manny 
     Diaz, Jr.; Florida State Rep. Richard Corcoran, Speaker of 
     the House; Florida State Rep. Jose Oliva, Speaker-Elect; 
     Florida State Rep. Jose Felix Diaz; Focus on Family.
       Foundation for Excellence in Education; Foundation for 
     Florida's Future; Friends of Betsy DeVos, Ed Patru; Former 
     Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist; Tim Forti; Principal, St. 
     Mary's-ST. Alphonsus Catholic

[[Page S822]]

     School; George Washington University, Professor Henry Nau; 
     Georgia Charter Schools Association; Georgia Secretary of 
     State Brian Kemp; Georgia State Rep. Buzz Brockway; Georgia 
     State Rep. Wes Cantrell; Georgia State Rep. David Clark; 
     Georgia State Sen. David Shafer, President Pro Tem; Georgia 
     State Rep. B.J. Pak (Former); Georgia State Rep. Ed Setzler; 
     Georgia State Rep. Valencia Stovall; Kathy Lee Gifford; Gov. 
     Robert Bentley, Alabama; Gov. Douglas Ducey, Arizona; Gov. 
     Assa Hutchison, Arkansas; Gov. Rick Scott, Florida; Gov. Jeb 
     Bush, Former Governor of Florida; Gov. Edward Baza Calvo, 
     Guam; Gov. Bruce Rauner, Illinois; Gov. Eric Holcomb, 
     Indiana; Gov. Sam Brownback, Kansas; Gov. Matthew Bevin, 
     Kentucky; Gov. Paul LePage, Maine; Gov. Rick Snyder, 
     Michigan; Gov. Phil Bryant, Mississippi; Gov. Eric Greitens, 
     Missouri; Gov. Doug Burgman, North Dakota; Gov. Pete 
     Ricketts, Nebraska. Gov. Brian Sandoval, Nevada; Gov. Chris 
     Christie, New Jersey; Gov. Susana Martinez, New Mexico; 
     Gov. Ralph Torres, N. Mariana Islands.
       Gov. John Kasich, Ohio; Gov. Mary Fallin, Oklahoma; Gov. 
     Bill Haslam, Tennessee; Gov. Greg Abbot, Texas; Gov. Scott 
     Walker, Wisconsin; Great Lakes Education Project; Grand 
     Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce; Grand Rapids City 
     Commissioner Dave Schaffer; Grand Rapids Public Schools 
     Superintendent Teresa Weatherall Neal; Great Schools for All 
     Children; Jim Griffin, Charter school advocate; Debbie 
     Groves, Teacher, Stonewall Jackson High School; Hawaii State 
     Rep. Gene Ward; Frederick Hess, Director of Education Policy 
     Studies, American Enterprise Institute; Hillsdale College, 
     President Larry Arnn; Hispanic CREA; Hispanics for School 
     Choice; Mark Hoduski, Teacher, Maranatha Academy; Home School 
     Legal Defense Association; Hope College, President Dr. John 
     Knapp; Hope College, Trustee Lisa Granger; Idaho Charter 
     School Network; Idaho State Rep. Scott Bedke, Speaker of the 
     House; Illinois State Rep. John Cabello; Independence 
     Institute; Independent Women's Voice; Indiana State Rep. 
     Robert Behning; Indiana State Rep. Brian Bosma, Speaker of 
     the House; Indiana State Sen. Brandt Hershman, Senate 
     Majority Leader; Indiana State Sen. David Long, President Pro 
     Tem; Institute for Better Education; Institute for Quality 
     Education; Invest in Education Coalition, President Thomas 
     Carroll; Invest in Education Foundation, Vice President Peter 
     Murphy; Investigative Project on Terrorism; Iowa State Rep. 
     Linda Upmeyer, Speaker of the House.
       Jeffersonian Project; John Locke Foundation, Director of 
     Research and Education Studies Terry Stoops, Ph.D.; Kansas 
     Secretary of State Kris Kobach; Kansas State Sen. Susan 
     Wagle, Senate President; Kent County Commissioner Mandy 
     Bolter, Grand Rapids, MI; Kentucky State Sen. Robert Stivers, 
     Senate President; Kentucky State Sen. Ralph Alvarado; 
     Kentucky State Rep. Johnathan Shell, House Majority Leader; 
     Roger Kiney, Teacher, Burlington-Edison High School; Ken 
     Kreykes, Teacher, Chicago Christian School; The Libre 
     Initiative; Log Cabin Republicans; Louisiana Association of 
     Business and Industry; Louisiana Association of Charter 
     Schools; Louisiana Federation for Children; Louisiana State 
     Rep. Greg Cromer; Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey, Alabama; Lt. Gov. Tim 
     Griffin, Arkansas; Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, Iowa; Lt. Gov. 
     Evelyn Sanguinetti, Illinois; Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, 
     Indiana; Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer, Kansas; Lt. Gov. Billy 
     Nungesser, Louisiana; Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, Michigan; Lt. 
     Gov. Tate Reeves, Mississippi; Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, North 
     Carolina; Lt. Gov. Mike Foley, Nebraska; Lt. Gov, John 
     Sanchez, New Mexico; Lt. Gov. Mark Hutchinson, Nevada; Lt. 
     Gov. Todd Lamb, Oklahoma; Lt. Gov. Rebecca Klefisch, 
     Wisconsin; MacIver Institute; Mackinac Center for Public 
     Policy; Macomb County Commissioner Leon Drolet, Macomb, MI; 
     Maggie's List.
       Maine State Sen. Michael Thibodeau, Senate President; Maine 
     State Sen. Andre Cushing, Senate Assistant Majority Leader; 
     Maryland State Sen. Stephen Hershey, Jr.; Maryland State Sen. 
     Michael Hough; Maryland House Rep. Nic Kipke, House 
     Republican Leader; Maryland House Rep. Kathy Szeliga; 
     Massachusetts House Rep. Keiko M. Orrall; Metropolitan 
     Milwaukee Association of Commerce; Metropolitan State 
     University--Denver, Professor Kishore Kulkarni; Michigan 
     Association of Non-Public Schools; Michigan Association of 
     Public School Academies; Michigan Chamber of Commerce; 
     Michigan Catholic Conference; Michigan Council of Charter 
     School Authorizers; Michigan Republican National Committee 
     (RNC) Member, Kathy Berden; Michigan Republican State 
     Committee Member, Beverly Bodem; Michigan Republican Party, 
     Former Chair Suzy Avery; Michigan Secretary of State Ruth 
     Johnson; Michigan State Board of Education Co-President Dr. 
     Richard Zeile; Michigan State Board of Education Member, 
     Eileen Lappin Weiser; Michigan State Rep. Laura Cox; Michigan 
     State Rep. Daniela Garcia, Assistant Majority Floor Leader; 
     Michigan State Rep. Brandt Iden; Michigan State Rep. Klint 
     Kesto; Michigan State Rep. Tom Leonard, Speaker of the House; 
     Michigan State Rep. Aric Nesbitt (Former); Michigan State 
     Rep. Amanda Price, Education Committee Chair; Michigan State 
     Rep. Mary Whiteford; Michigan State Rep. Ken Yonkers; 
     Michigan State Sen. Mike Green; Michigan State Sen. Peter 
     MacGregor; Michigan State Sen. Michelle McManus (Former); 
     Michigan State Sen. Arlan Meekhof, Senate Majority Leader; 
     Michigan State Sen. Mike Shirkey; Michigan State Sen. Jim 
     Stamas; Michigan State Sen. Phil Pavlov.
       Michigan State University Board of Trustees, Chairperson 
     Brian Breslin; Michigan State University Board of Trustees, 
     Trustee Melanie Foster; Military Child Education Coalition; 
     Military Families for High Standards; Military Officers 
     Association of America (MOAA); Minnesota State Sen. Paul 
     Gazelka, Senate Majority Leader; Minnesota State Rep. Kurt 
     Daudt, Speaker of the House; Mission: Readiness; The Missouri 
     Bar; Missouri Education Reform Council (MERC); Missouri State 
     Rep. Shamed Dogan; Missouri State Rep. Rebecca Roeber; 
     Montana State Rep. Ron Ehli, House Majority Leader; Montana 
     State Rep. Austin Knudsen, Speaker of the House; Montana 
     State Sen. Fred Thomas, Senate Majority Leader; Eva 
     Moskowitz, Founder of Success Academy Charter Schools; 
     National Alliance for Public Charter Schools; National Center 
     for Family Learning; National Heritage Academies, Grand 
     Rapids, MI; National Math + Science Initiative (NMSI); 
     National Military Family Association; Navy League of the 
     United States; Nevada State Assemblyman Paul Anderson, 
     Floor Leader; Nevada State Assemblyman Chris Edwards; 
     Nevada State Assemblyman John Ellison, Republican Whip; 
     Nevada State Assemblyman John Hambrick; Nevada State 
     Assemblyman Ira Hansen; Nevada State Assemblyman Al 
     Kramer; Nevada State Assemblyman Lisa Krasner; Nevada 
     State Assemblyman Jim Marchant; Nevada State Assemblyman 
     Richard McArthur; Nevada State Assemblyman James Oscarson, 
     Floor Leader; Nevada State Assemblyman Keith Pickard; 
     Nevada State Assemblyman Robin Titus; Nevada State 
     Assemblyman Jill Tolles; Nevada State Assemblyman Jim 
     Wheeler, Floor Leader.
       Nevada State Assemblywoman Melissa Woodbury, Republican 
     Whip; Nevada State Sen. Don Gustason; Nevada State Sen. Scott 
     Hammond; Nevada State Sen. Joe Hardy; Nevada State Sen. 
     Michael Roberson, Senate Republican Leader; New Hampshire 
     State Rep. Victoria Sullivan, Member of Committee on 
     Education; New Hampshire State Sen. Andy Sanborn; New Jersey 
     State Rep. Sen Tom Kean, Senate Republican Leader; New Jersey 
     Tri-County Scholarship Fund; New Mexico State Rep. Alonzo 
     Baldonado, House Republican Whip; New Mexico State Rep. Nate 
     Gentry, House Republican Leader; New Mexico State Rep. Monica 
     Youngblood; New York State Catholic Conference; New York 
     State Sen. John Flanaga, Senate Majority Leader; North 
     Carolina Association of Public Charter Schools; North 
     Carolina State Rep. Pat McElraft, Deputy Majority Whip; North 
     Carolina State Sen. John Alexander; North Carolina State Sen. 
     Deanna Ballard; North Carolina State Sen. Chad Barefoot, Co-
     Chair for Committee on Education; North Carolina State Sen. 
     Phil Berger, President Pro Tem; North Carolina State Sen. 
     Harry Brown, Majority Leader; North Carolina State Sen. Bill 
     Cook; North Carolina State Sen. David Curtis, Co-Chair for 
     Committee on Education; North Carolina State Sen. Cathy Dunn; 
     North Carolina State Sen. Kathy Harrington; North Carolina 
     State Sen. Brent Jackson; North Carolina State Sen. Joyce 
     Krawiec, Member, Committee on Education; North Carolina State 
     Sen. Michael Lee, Co-Chair, for Committee on Education; North 
     Carolina State Sen. Wesley Meredith, Majority Whip; North 
     Carolina State Sen. Paul Newton; North Carolina State Sen. 
     Ronald Rabin; North Carolina State Sen. Bill Rabon; North 
     Carolina State Sen. Norman Sanderson; North Carolina State 
     Sen. Tommy Tucker.
       North Dakota State Rep. AL Carlson, House Majority Leader; 
     Northeast Charter Schools Network; Northwest Ohio Scholarship 
     Fund; Ohio State Rep. Niraj Antani; Ohio State Rep. Keith 
     Faber; Ohio State Rep. Cliff Rosenberger, Speaker of the 
     House; Oklahoma State Rep. Ryan Martinez; Oklahoma State Rep. 
     T.W. Shannon, Former Speaker of the House; O'More College of 
     Design, President David Matthew Rosen; Oregon State Rep. 
     Michael McLane, Republican Leader; Oregon State Sen. Ted 
     Ferrioli, Republican Leader; Oregon State Sen. Jackie 
     Winters; Secretary of Education Rod Paige; Parents for 
     Educational Freedom in North Carolina (PEFNC); Lawrence C. 
     Patrick, Former President of Detroit Board of Education; 
     Pennsylvania Coalition for Public Charter Schools; 
     Pennsylvania State Rep. David Reed, Majority Leader; 
     Pennsylvania State Rep. Mike Turzai, Speaker of the House; 
     Prep Net; Public School Options; Rachel and Drew Katz 
     Foundation; Ready Colorado; Reason Foundation; Rhode Island 
     State Rep. Patricia Morgan, House Republican Leader; 
     Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Rio Grande Foundation; 
     Assistant Secretary of Labor Doug Ross; S4 Group; Kathleen 
     Shober, Teacher, McKaskey High School; School Choice 
     Wisconsin; SchoolForward; Secretary of Education Margaret 
     Spellings; Step Up; Student Leadership University; South 
     Carolina African American Chamber of Commerce; South Carolina 
     Secretary of State Mark Hammond.
       South Carolina State Rep. Phyllis Henderson, House Majority 
     Whip; South Dakota State Rep. Brian Gosch (Former); South 
     Dakota State Rep. Kristin Langer, House Majority Whip; 
     Tarrent County College Professor Robert Sherwood; Tennessee 
     Federation for Children; Tennessee Secretary of State Tre 
     Hargett; Tennessee State Rep. Kevin Brooks; Tennessee State 
     Rep. Glen Casada; Tennessee State Rep. Michael Curcio; 
     Tennessee State Rep. Martin Daniel; Tennessee State Rep. John 
     DeBerry, Jr.;

[[Page S823]]

     Tennessee State Rep. Tilman Goins; Tennessee State Rep. Andy 
     Holt; Tennessee State Rep. Dan Howell; Tennessee State Rep. 
     Sabi Kumar; Tennessee State Rep. Mark Lovell; Tennessee State 
     Rep. Pat Marsh; Tennessee State Rep. Jimmy Matlock; Tennessee 
     State Rep. Debra Moody; Tennessee State Rep. Dennis Powers; 
     Tennessee State Rep. Jay Reedy; Tennessee State Rep. Courtney 
     Rogers; Tennessee State Rep. Jerry Sexton; Tennessee State 
     Rep. Paul Sherrell; Tennessee State Rep. Eddie Smith; 
     Tennessee State Rep. Mike Sparks; Tennessee State Rep. Tim 
     Wirgau; Tennessee State Rep. Dawn White; Tennessee State Rep. 
     Mark White; Tennessee State Rep. Jason Zachary; Tennessee 
     State Sen. Mike Bell; Tennessee State Sen. Dolores Gresham; 
     Tennessee State Sen. Todd Gardenhire; Tennessee State Sen. 
     Ferrell Haile; Tennessee State Sen. Ed Jackson; Tennessee 
     State Sen. Brian Kelsey; Tennessee State Sen. Bill Ketron; 
     Tennessee State Sen. John Stevens; Tennessee State Sen. Jim 
     Tracy.
       Texas Charter Schools Association; Texas for Education 
     Opportunity; Texas State Rep. Larry Gonzales; Thomas B. 
     Fordham Institute; Today and Tomorrow Educational Foundation; 
     Tomorrow's Hope Foundation; Union of Orthodox Jewish 
     Congregations of America; University of Louisville Associate 
     Professor Alexei Izyumov;
       University of Michigan, President Emerita Mary Sue Coleman; 
     University of Michigan, Regent Andrew Fischer Newman; 
     University of Texas at Austin Professor Daniel Bonevac, 
     University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee Professor Shale 
     Horowitz; U.S. Chamber of Commerce; U.S. House Rep. Rick W. 
     Allen, Member of Education and Workforce Committee; U.S. 
     House Rep. Justin Amash; U.S. House Rep. Jack Bergman; U.S. 
     House Rep. Lou Barletta, Member of Education and Workforce 
     Committee; U.S. House Rep. Mike Bishop, Member of Education 
     and Workforce Committee; U.S. House Rep. Marsha Blackburn; 
     U.S. House Rep. Dave Brat, Member of Education and Workforce 
     Committee; U.S. House Rep. Bradley Byrne, Member of Education 
     and Workforce Committee; U.S. House Rep. Virginia Foxx, Chair 
     of Education and Workforce Committee; U.S. House Rep. Trent 
     Franks; U.S. House Rep. Louie Gohmert; U.S. House Rep. Glenn 
     Grothman, Member of Education and Workforce Committee; U.S. 
     House Rep. Andy Harris; U.S. House Rep. Bill Huizenga; U.S. 
     House Rep. Duncan Hunter, Member of Education and Workforce 
     Committee; U.S. House Rep. Steve King; U.S. House Rep. Jason 
     Lewis, Member of Education and Workforce Committee.
       U.S. House Rep. Blaine Luetkerneyer; U.S. House Rep. Luke 
     Messer, Member of Education and Workforce Committee; U.S. 
     House Rep. Paul Mitchell, Member of Education and Workforce 
     Committee; U.S. House Rep. John Moolenaar; U.S. House Rep. 
     Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen; U.S. House Rep. James B. 
     Renacci; U.S. House Rep. Todd Rokita, Member of. Education 
     and Workforce Committee; U.S. House Rep. Francis Rooney, 
     Member of Education and Workforce Committee; U.S. House Rep. 
     Dave Trott; U.S. House Rep. Fred Upton; U.S. House Rep. Tim 
     Walberg, Member of Education and Workforce Committee; U.S. 
     House Rep. Joe Wilson, Member of Education and Workforce 
     Committee; U.S. House Rep. Ted S. Yoho, DVM; Former U.S. 
     House Rep. Dave Camp (MI); Former U.S. House Rep. Pete 
     Hoekstra (MI); Former U.S. House Rep. Mike Rogers (MI); Utah 
     State Rep. Kim Coleman; Utah State Rep. Greg Hughes, Speaker 
     of the House; Utah State Sen. Todd Weiler; Valencia College, 
     President Dr. Sanford Shugart; Vermont State Rep. Don Turner, 
     House Republican Leader; Virginia State Del. Bill Howell, 
     Speaker of the House.
       Virginia State Sen. Ryan McDouble, Chair of Senate 
     Republican Caucus; Virginia Tech Professor Ken Stiles; 
     Washington and Lee University Professor Robert Dean; 
     Washington State Sen. Mark Schoesler, Senate Majority Leader; 
     Tom Watkins, former Michigan State Superintendent of Schools; 
     Wayne State University, Board of Governors Member David 
     Nicholson; Ronald Weiser, Former U.S. Ambassador to Slovakia; 
     West Virginia State Rep. Eric Nelson, Chair of House 
     Republican Caucus; West Virginia State Rep. Jill Upson, 
     Member of Committee on Education; Anthony Williams, Former 
     Mayor of Washington, DC; Wisconsin Assemblywoman Jessie 
     Rodriguez; Wisconsin Assemblyman Robin Vos, Speaker of the 
     House; Wisconsin Federation for Children; Wisconsin Institute 
     for Law and Liberty; Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce; 
     Wisconsin State Rep. Jessie Rodriguez; Wisconsin State Sen. 
     Scott Fitzgerald, Senate Majority Leader; Wisconsin State 
     Sen. Leah Vukmir, Assistant Majority Leader; Kenneth Witt, 
     Former President, Jefferson County Board of Education; 
     Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington DC; Wyoming 
     State Rep. Steven Harshman, Speaker of the House; Wyoming 
     State Sen. Eli Bebout, Senate President; Young America's 
     Foundation.

  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, was there not enough time to question 
her? I wonder. We treated her just like we did President Obama's 
Education Secretaries. She offered to meet with the Democrats in 
December. They refused. She finally met with them in their offices.
  Then she testified for 90 minutes longer than either of President 
Obama's Education Secretaries before our committees.
  Then there were followup questions. We asked President Obama's 
Education Secretaries 53 and 56 questions; they asked her 1,400 
questions. Then they met, and one of their Members announced that they 
all agreed to vote against her before she had a chance to answer the 
questions. What does that say about those questions?
  She has conflicts of interest? We have a procedure for that, an 
independent conflicts of interest office, the Office of Government 
Ethics. The head was appointed by President Obama, confirmed by the 
Senate. He has an agreement with every Cabinet member about conflicts 
of interest. He wrote a letter to us 8 days before we voted on her and 
said she would have no conflict of interest if she followed this 
agreement.
  So plenty of time for questions, no conflict of interest. What is the 
problem?
  One, her support for public charter schools. Some people don't like 
that. But 2.7 million children attend them. They were founded by the 
Democratic Farmer-Labor Party in Minnesota. They have now grown to 
6,800 schools. They are the most effective public school reform in 30 
years.
  School choice. What is wrong with giving low-income Americans more 
choice and better schools? We have done it since the GI bill from 
1944--taxpayer money following veteran students to Notre Dame, Yeshiva, 
Harvard, the National Auto Diesel College. Has it hurt the public 
universities, of which I used to be President of one? It has helped 
them. Then, more people went to private schools, and now more people go 
to public colleges.
  Betsy DeVos has committed to no more Washington mandates. No more 
national school board, no Washington mandates for vouchers, no 
Washington mandates for common core, no Washington mandates for 
specific kinds of teacher evaluations with Betsy DeVos in charge of the 
Department of Education.
  One year ago, we had no Education Secretary. I asked President Obama 
to appoint one, even though I knew he would appoint John King, with 
whom I disagreed. I promised that if he did, we would promptly confirm 
him, and we did. We asked him 53 questions, not 1,397. We didn't say he 
had conflicts of interest when the Office of Government Ethics said he 
did not.
  I know my friends are surprised about the election, but wouldn't they 
be really surprised if he appointed someone from within the education 
establishment to be the Secretary of Education? Wouldn't you be 
surprised that a Republican President would be for charter schools? Are 
you really surprised that a Republican President has appointed an 
Education Secretary who wants to give low-income children more choices 
of schools? Are you surprised that a Republican President has nominated 
an Education Secretary who wants to reverse the trend to a national 
school board and restore local control?
  I am supporting her because she wants to do that, because she has led 
the most effective--
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has used 4\1/2\ minutes.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Thank you, Mr. President.
  She has led the most effective public school reform movement over the 
last 30 years and she has a commitment to help low-income children.
  I would say to my Democratic colleagues, we confirmed President 
Obama's first Education Secretary in 7 days--on the day he was 
inaugurated; his second one in 3 weeks, just as we will Betsy DeVos 
today. You may disagree with the new President, but the people elected 
him, and I urge you to give the new Republican President the 
opportunity to choose his own Education Secretary, just like we did 
with the Democratic President 8 years ago and a year ago, even though 
we disagreed just as much with their view on Federal policy on local 
schools as you do with her policy and President Trump's policy on 
school choice.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has used 5 minutes.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I urge a ``yes'' vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Carolina.
  Mr. SCOTT. Mr. President, as we close this debate on Betsy DeVos, 
this debate should really be about public

[[Page S824]]

education. I support public education. Education is the closest thing 
to magic in America. Let me say again that again. Education is the 
closest thing to magic in America. I experienced that magic.
  As a kid growing up in a single-parent household, mired in poverty, 
disillusioned about life, I nearly flunked out as a freshman. I thank 
God for public education. But far too many kids--too many millions of 
kids today--do not have a quality educational choice in their 
communities. And what does that mean? There is a high correlation 
between incarceration, high unemployment, and lower lifetime incomes 
for those students who do not have quality public education.
  This Nation--the greatest Nation on Earth--has afforded a kid who 
almost dropped out of high school to become a U.S. Senator. Why? 
Because I found a path that included public education, and quality 
public education.
  So what does it look like in some of our cities? Let me give my 
colleagues an example from Detroit. Only 9 percent of African-American 
kids meet standards for English. Thirteen percent of White kids meet 
standards or exceed standards in English, and 12.5 percent of Hispanic 
kids meet or exceed standards in English in Detroit. We need to make 
sure that every child in every ZIP Code has a quality choice.
  The Secretary of Education cannot--cannot--privatize education. That 
would take an act of Congress.
  So, yes, we should have a passionate debate about education, and yes, 
we should make sure--make sure--that the focus of that debate is on the 
kid.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Tillis). The Senator's time has expired.

                                 prayer

  Pursuant to rule IV, paragraph 2, the hour of 12 noon having arrived, 
the Senate having been in continuous session since yesterday, the 
Senate will suspend for a prayer from the Senate Chaplain.
  The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, offered the following prayer:
  Let us pray.
  God of mercy and light, we are in Your hands, and we rejoice because 
of the power of Your presence. Do with us what seems good in Your 
sight.
  Lord, in the welter and variety of decisionmaking, with its 
alternating and fluctuating intricacies, give our lawmakers a deeper 
appreciation for a conscience void of offense toward You or humanity. 
Today, show mercy to the Members of this legislative body. Let Your 
sovereign hand be over them and Your Holy Spirit ever be with them, 
directing all their thoughts, words, and works for Your glory. Lord, 
prosper the labors of their hands, enabling them in due season to reap 
a bountiful harvest if they faint not.
  We pray in Your merciful Name. Amen.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. All postcloture time having expired, the 
question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the DeVos 
nomination?
  Mr. DURBIN. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  The result was announced--yeas 50, nays 50, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 54 Ex.]

                                YEAS--50

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Burr
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Cochran
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Flake
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hatch
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     McCain
     McConnell
     Moran
     Paul
     Perdue
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--50

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Collins
     Coons
     Cortez Masto
     Donnelly
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Harris
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Hirono
     Kaine
     King
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Manchin
     Markey
     McCaskill
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Peters
     Reed
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden
  The VICE PRESIDENT. On this vote, the yeas are 50, the nays are 50.
  The Senate being equally divided, the Vice President votes in the 
affirmative, and the nomination is confirmed.
  The majority leader.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote on the 
confirmation.
  The VICE PRESIDENT. The question is on the motion to reconsider.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I move to table the motion to reconsider.
  The VICE PRESIDENT. The question is on agreeing to the motion to 
table.
  The motion was agreed to.

                          ____________________