[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19152]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   UNFUNDED FEDERAL MANDATE: STOP THE FEDS FROM PASSING THE BUCK FOR 
                            EDUCATION REFORM

  (Mr. ETHERIDGE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to demand that the Congress 
and the President stop passing the buck on education reform to our 
States and local communities.
  Last week the House Committee on Rules held a hearing to consider the 
issue of unfunded mandates. As I have noted on several occasions on the 
House floor, the Bush administration's $20 billion cut to the No Child 
Left Behind Act has created a massive unfunded Federal mandate. As the 
former superintendent of my State's public schools, I know firsthand 
that unfunded mandates will cause real pain at the local level.
  I believe the Federal Government must live up to its obligation to 
fund education reform. It is simply wrong to pass a piece of 
legislation that says we are going to give you all that money to Leave 
No Child Left Behind and then leave the money behind, while still 
forcing schools to achieve new standards.
  I have introduced legislation that requires full funding of the No 
Child Left Behind Act, and I urge my colleagues to join me in stopping 
the Federal practice of passing the buck to States and local 
communities.

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