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“ Democratic priorities are clear: we will fight to get the economy back on track, we will create jobs, and we will help unemployed workers. ” |
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Pelosi: 'Keeping Our Promises on Education is the Least We Can Do for America's Children'
Washington, D.C. -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke this evening on the House floor in support of a motion to instruct conferees on the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Appropriations bill to insist upon the highest funding levels possible for programs authorized by the No Child Left Behind Act. The motion was offered by Congressman David Obey of Wisconsin. Below are her remarks.
"Mr. Chairman, agreeing to the highest funding levels in the conference, as Mr. Obey's motion to instruct calls for, is the very least we can do for the children of America. In an earlier Congress, we authorized the No Child Left Behind legislation. It was ground-breaking; it called for standards in the schools; and it was controversial. It was the President's initiative, and it received bipartisan support in the Congress. It was never imagined, I don't think, that when we would go forward with these mandates on public schools in our country, that we would give them the mandate and withhold the money. That this bill falls $8 billion short on funding for No Child Left Behind is appalling, and makes it impossible for the schools to meet the mandates.
"President Bush and the Republicans have made a great show of supporting education -- and they have promised, with great fanfare, to ‘Leave No Child Behind.’ But when it comes time to keep those promises, President Bush and the Republicans in Congress take a recess from responsibility and leave millions of children behind.
"No matter what else students have learned in school this year, students and their parents across the country have learned a valuable lesson about the Republicans -- they don’t keep their promises on education.
"The appropriations bill the Republicans passed this summer falls a staggering $8 billion below the funding level promised in the No Child Left Behind bill. It only funds a small portion of what was promised for Title I, the program that helps at-risk students master the basics. And it falls more than $1 billion short of the special education funding promised in the recently passed Individuals with Disabilities Education Act reauthorization bill -- a 55 percent gap between what Republicans promised and what they delivered.
"The vote on this appropriations bill clearly defined the differences between the parties. Not one single Democrat voted to support this affront to our nation's education needs. And with good reason. I'll just take my home state of California for example. It underfunds our needs in California by $1.3 billion. In Georgia, by $280 million. My Republican colleagues, when you voted for this bill, if you are from Georgia, you voted to shortchange the children of Georgia by $280 million. In Arizona, by $168 million. The list goes on and on.
"By voting for this bill Republicans showed that all of their rhetoric about supporting education is just that: empty rhetoric. It is yet another example of the credibility gap between the rhetoric around here and the realities of the budget priorities the Republicans have.
"Today, Members have the opportunity, thanks to Mr. Obey, to close the gap between rhetoric about education and funding for education. His motion calls for keeping our promises. It is the least we can do for America's children."
“ Democrats are united in presenting a New Direction for America, one that will make our nation as strong as its people, one that brings opportunity, security, and prosperity to all Americans. ”
Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi
