[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.