[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 6396]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



   BETTER EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED

  Mr. LOTT. I now move to proceed to S. 1, the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act.
  I say to the Senator from Minnesota, there have been many days of 
negotiation. A lot of progress has been made. Everybody acknowledges 
that. But this bill should have been taken up in March. Now here we are 
almost in May and we are still negotiating. If we are going to have 
everything wrapped up before it ever comes to the floor of the Senate, 
there would not be much for the Senate to do around here.
  Ordinarily, you get as much of an agreement as you can, get a bill 
reported out, and bring it to the floor. Negotiations are not going to 
end. They are going to continue. But on some of them we are not going 
to be able to reach an agreement.
  I say to my colleague, in a State that is trying to improve 
education, and, again, as a son of a schoolteacher, if just money would 
solve the problem, we would have a higher quality of education in 
America than we do today.
  We have spent well over $130 billion over the past several years for 
the title I program. I don't want to demean that program. It has done 
some good and can do more good, if we give a little more flexibility at 
the local level where the money can be used, where it may be used 
differently in Minnesota than it would be in Texas, give a little 
flexibility to make sure you are addressing the needs of those title I 
children in an appropriate way.
  But just money is not enough. We have to have some real reforms. 
Money is part of it. I admit that. The President has asked for more 
money for the reading program. The President has indicated he supports 
more funding for title I and for IDEA and for bilingual education.
  We are making progress. He is moving in the right direction. But I 
don't know if we can ever come up with enough money in this area or a 
lot of the other areas to suit every Senator. They can always find some 
way--it is easy--to say ``give me more.''
  One of the reasons we ought to have tax relief is to let the people 
keep a little bit more of their money to help the children with their 
needs. That is why I think we ought to double the child tax credit; let 
the parents get more of the benefit of their money to help their 
children with their needs. Let them decide if they need a little 
tutoring, if they need a computer, whatever it may be.
  One of the reasons parents can't always do what they need for their 
own children is that they don't get to keep enough of the money they 
earn. Why in the world would we take from the mouths of labor the bread 
that they have earned? That is a quote from Thomas Jefferson--a great 
line.
  At any rate, some Senators are adamant about objecting to proceeding 
to the education bill. I think that is a mistake. I think we ought to 
move forward. I suspect that some of the amendments that would be 
offered--and maybe the Senator from Minnesota would support and I would 
oppose--probably will pass. What are they worried about? We can bring 
this to a satisfactory conclusion that would be good for everybody. 
This is a win-win-win opportunity. Let's not blow it.

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