    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 31 (Monday, August 6, 2001)]
    [Page 1129]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks Prior to a Meeting With Congressional Leaders on Education
    Reform Legislation

    August 2, 2001

        Listen, thank you all for coming. It's my honor to meet with the
    Senate conferees and the chairman of the Education Committee in the
    House and, of course, the Secretary of Education to discuss the
    Conference Committee on Education and the education reform package and
    how best to--what I can do to help move the bill and to work with the
    Members to get a--to continue the spirit of reform that was a part of
    the Senate bill and the House bill.
        Today one of the things that I hope the Nation notices is that the
    NAEP is out, the national assessment statistics. And one of the things--
    one of the powerful statistics is that States that use strong
    accountability systems, States that measure, States that say every child
    could matter are the States that perform best when it comes to teaching
    children the basic skills, in this case, math. It so happened to be that
    one of those States was Texas; the other was North Carolina.
        But it is a strong message to the advocates for reform who sit here
    in the Oval Office, strong message for the Members who doubt whether or
    not accountability is important, that accountability is crucial for
    reform. And after all, we're all united in making sure every child can
    learn in America and no child, not one child is left behind.
        So I want to thank the Members for coming. I'm hopeful that we can
    get a bill on my desk as soon as possible. I know that's the intent of
    the two chairmen. And when I do--when it is, and when I sign it, it will
    be really good for the public education of the country.
        Thank you all for coming.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:51 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to NAEP, the National Assessment of
    Education Progress. A tape was not available for verification of the
    content of these remarks.