[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 8, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1649-S1650]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW ACT RESOLUTIONS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the passage of the Every Student 
Succeeds Act was one of the great triumphs of the last Congress. It 
represented the most significant education reform in over a decade. It 
heralded ``the largest devolution of federal control to the states in a 
quarter-century,'' as the Wall Street Journal put it, empowering 
parents, teachers, and schools at the expense of Washington 
bureaucrats. It passed the Senate with wide bipartisan support, 85 to 
12; President Obama signed it into law.
  Yet just a few months later, his administration set to shift power 
back from parents and schools to the Washington bureaucracy by 
regulation. The Obama administration's so-called accountability 
regulation was written in direct--direct--contradiction to the law that 
passed Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support and is a prime 
example of the Executive overreach we in Congress are working to 
overturn.
  Today, however, thanks to the Congressional Review Act, we have the 
opportunity to move past this overreaching regulation and empower those 
closest to our kids once again to ensure our schools are held to the 
highest standards.
  We will also have the opportunity to move past another Obama-era 
regulation that hurts students and those seeking to go into the 
teaching profession. I am talking about a regulation that allows the 
Federal Government to insert itself into the way States choose to 
prepare their teachers for the classroom. States are supposed to be the 
leaders on core curriculum and decisions on how to prepare teachers to 
best meet the needs of their students--not Washington bureaucrats. By 
repealing this regulation, we could help restore that process. Further, 
this regulation increases administrative burdens that only divert much 
needed resources and focus away from students.
  As the Kentucky Association of Colleges for Teacher Education put it, 
voting to remove the harmful teacher preparation regulation ``will 
allow Kentucky universities and colleges to continue developing and 
supporting outstanding teachers who positively impact P-12 children.''
  ``Teacher preparation programs have limited and shrinking 
resources,'' the letter said. ``[Our] members want to spend those 
resources on developing exemplary teachers rather than working on 
compliance regulations that have not been shown to result in better 
prepared and higher quality teachers.''
  That is from the Kentucky Association of Colleges for Teacher 
Education.
  Groups like this know firsthand that more flexibility is the key to 
improving our schools. They know that those closest to students are 
best positioned to help our children succeed. They know that the one-
size-fits-all education policies of the past are unsustainable for the 
future. So it is time to move past both of these harmful education 
regulations.
  In particular, I want to recognize Senator Sasse and Senator 
Alexander, the HELP Committee chairman, for their leadership on these 
issues. They introduced legislation similar to the House-passed 
proposals that we will vote on this week to overturn these unfair 
regulations.

[[Page S1650]]

  I encourage colleagues to support both CRA resolutions so that we can 
continue building upon educational policies that put America's students 
and educators first.

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