    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book I)]
    [January 8, 2007]
    [Pages 14-15]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Meeting With Members of Congress on the Fifth
    Anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act
    January 8, 2007

        Laura and I want to thank Senator
    Kennedy and Congressman George
    Miller and Congressman McKeon and Senator Enzi for
    joining us as we celebrate the fifth anniversary of No Child Left Behind
    and discuss our strategy to reauthorize this important piece of
    legislation.
        I want to thank the Members
    for joining us. I am proud of this piece of
    legislation. I think it's made an enormous difference, particularly in
    the lives of some of our poorer students. This country needs to get it
    right when it comes to public education, and the bill that I was honored
    to sign is an important first step toward making sure every child gets a
    good education in America.
        And in our discussions today, we've all agreed to work together to
    address some of the major concerns that some people have on this piece
    of legislation, without weakening the essence of the bill, and get a
    piece of legislation done. And we showed in the past that we can work
    together to get positive results, and I'm confident we can do so again.
        Again, I appreciate the wisdom and the vision of the Members who are here. I thank
    you for your steadfast and strong support for our public schools and the
    children in our public schools, and I'm looking forward to working with
    you to reauthorize No Child Left Behind.
        Thank you all very much.

    [[Page 15]]

    Note: The President spoke at 1:56 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish
    language transcript of these remarks.