[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9235]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             LIVING UP TO THE PROMISE OF EDUCATION FUNDING

  (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 call on the Bush 
administration and this Congress to live up to its promise on 
education.
  Despite the White House's media event this week, the administration's 
own budget request for next year would cut $9.4 billion from the 
President's own No Child Left Behind Act. In the first 3 years under 
this new law, this administration has shorted America's schools by $27 
billion. That is a pretty poor record and a failure of leadership.
  This week, the White House claimed that the States have billions of 
dollars of unspent Federal education funds, as if there is a stack of 
money sitting on some bureaucrat's shelf. As the only former State 
school chief serving in this Congress, I can tell my colleagues that 
nothing could be farther from the truth. School officials are 
struggling to fill countless unmet needs for funding, and this 
administration's failure to provide our needed education funds is a 
crushing burden.
  Democrats have a better way. I have introduced legislation to require 
full funding for No Child Left Behind. Democrats support school 
construction and helping local leaders build new schools, relieve 
overcrowding, reduce class sizes, and improve security. We must make 
sure every public school works to educate our children to meet the 
needs of the 21st century.
  In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, Congress needs to live up to its promises 
made on education.

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