Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006

Floor Speech

DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006 -- (Senate - October 27, 2005)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk.

AMENDMENT NO. 2275

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the pending amendments are set aside. The clerk will report,

The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

The Senator from West Virginia [Mr. BYRD], for himself, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Reed, Mr. Reid, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Dodd, Mr. KOHL, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Lautenberg, Ms. Mikulski, Mrs. Clinton, and Mr. DAYTON, proposes an amendment numbered 2275.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that further reading of the amendment be waived.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

The amendment is as follows:
(Purpose: To provide additional funding for title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965)

At the end of title III (before the short title), add the following:

SEC. __. ADDITIONAL TITLE I FUNDING.

In addition to amounts otherwise appropriated under this Act, there are appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $5,000,000,000 for carrying out title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), of which--

(1) $2,500,000,000 shall be for targeted grants under section 1125 of such Act; and

(2) $2,500,000,000 shall be for education finance incentive grants under section 1125A of such Act.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I have offered an amendment on behalf of the Nation's disadvantaged students and the schools that are struggling to educate these disadvantaged students.

Hear me, I have offered an amendment on behalf of the Nation's disadvantaged students and the schools that are struggling to educate them. When Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act 4 years ago--how short are our memories--it promised--get this--we promised to give schools the funding they would need to help every young person in this country to succeed in the classroom. I wish I had that when I was starting out in a two-room schoolhouse 80 years ago. That promise has not been kept. We have not even come close, and there is no better example of that broken promise than the title I program.

Title I is the most important Federal education program we have. Did you hear, Senators? Title I is the most important Federal education program we have. It helps the students who need help the most--who need help.

When Caesar was about to drown, Caesar said:

Help me, Cassius, or I sink!

Here is a program that is not well. It needs help or it will sink--help for the millions of children who are being left behind.

It is also the program that, under the No Child Left Behind Act, will hold schools accountable--yes, hold schools accountable for improving student performance. They should be held accountable. That is why when Congress wrote the No Child Left Behind Act it authorized specific funding levels for title I for every year through fiscal year 2007. But every year--now get this--every year when it is time to appropriate the money, we have come up short.

This chart here beside me tells the story. Focus your eyes on this chart. Here is the title to the chart, ``Falling Behind On `No Child Left Behind.' '' How about that? ``Falling Behind On `No Child Left Behind.' '' The numbers are in billions, billions of dollars. Take a good look at this chart, I say. This chart tells the story, a pretty sordid story. The first year of the law, fiscal year 2002--this bar right here--the No Child Left Behind Act authorized $13.5 billion. There it is, the first year: $13.5 billion authorized. How much did Congress appropriate? Congress appropriated just $10.3 billion. The blue shows $13.5 billion authorized. The red shows we fell short. We only appropriated $10.3 billion.

In fiscal year 2003, watch this gap. The gap grew wider. The blue line shows that Congress authorized $16 billion, the blue bar, but Congress appropriated just $11.7 billion. There was $16 billion authorized, $11.7 billion appropriated.

Each year, as one can see on this chart, Congress has fallen further and further behind, behind in its promise to America's most needy students.

The authorized amount for fiscal year 2006--that is where we are now--appropriating moneys for fiscal year 2006, the authorized amount is $22.75, way over here on the chart, $22.75 billion. But the amount in this bill is just $12.8. Look at it. That is $10 billion less than the law promised to these disadvantaged students and to the schools in which they study. What a shame, $10 billion less--$22.75 was authorized, $12.8 billion was appropriated.

What a gap, $10 billion. That is $10 for every minute since Jesus Christ was born--$10 billion. That is $10 for every minute since Jesus Christ was born. What a gap. What a gap, $10 billion. That is enough to provide the full range of title I services to more than 3 million needy students who are currently being left behind by our Nation's schools. And at the current funding level in the Senate bill, they will continue to be left behind.

We got a hard look at some of those disadvantaged students during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Those disasters cast a bright light on a part of America that many people would like to pretend does not exist--a part of America where the school buildings are crumbling, where there are not enough good teachers, and students are afraid for their own safety. These are real live people, live students who have a future, who have a horizon out there, who have a vision, and yet we are not keeping our promise to them. They are being left behind.

I took a piece of plastic clay
And idly fashioned it one day
And as my fingers pressed it still
It moved and yielded to my will.

I came again when days were past,
The bit of clay was hard at last.
The form I gave it, it still bore
And I could change that form no more.

I took a piece of living clay
And gently formed it day by day
And molded with my power and art
A young child's soft and yielding heart.

I came again when years were gone,
He was a man I looked upon.
He still that early impress wore
And I can change him never more.

Never more, never more.

That is what we are talking about, a piece of human clay, human clay.

We are leaving those children behind.

Those are exactly the kinds of students who are being left behind today and they are exactly the kinds of students who can be helped by title I.

America can do better. I say America can do better for these students. That is why I am offering this amendment to increase funding for title I. I wish I could increase this program by the entire $10 billion to fulfill this commitment, our commitment, the commitment we made when Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act. However, I know I wouldn't get enough votes from the other side of the aisle, I have to say. They are all good people over on the other side. They are all patriotic people. They are good citizens and they are dedicated to the service of the people. But I realize I can be wrong sometimes. I think they are wrong. I don't think some of them will vote for this. We will see.

I am proposing instead that we get halfway there. We are just going halfway--$10 billion shortage--$10 billion shortage in our promise for the children, the disadvantaged children of this country, $10 billion short. I am going to ask for half of that, at least try to close half the gap, half of it.

I am proposing that we get half the way there, that we close the gap over 2 years: $5 billion now, $5 billion the following year. I am proposing we get halfway there, that we close the gap over 2 years by adding $5 billion.

That is enough to fully serve more than 1.5 million disadvantaged students who the administration would leave behind, and we would leave behind. These children will be taught by highly qualified teachers and receive the complete range of instructional services called for under the No Child Left Behind Act. States will benefit from this amendment--your State, Mr. President, your State, my State.

In my own State of West Virginia, schools would receive a total increase of just $800,000 for title I if the bill is passed as it is now. Under my amendment, those students in West Virginia would receive an additional $39 million above the bill. Tennessee would receive an additional $78 million.

Do you hear me? The people of Tennessee--are you listening? Are you listening? Tennessee would receive an additional $78 million.

Pennsylvania--are you listening? Pennsylvania is the State of which Benjamin Franklin was once president. Yes. Old Ben Franklin. Pennsylvania would receive an additional $185 million.

Louisiana would receive an additional $111 million; Mississippi, an additional $62 million.

I offered a similar amendment 2 years ago and those who opposed my amendment argued then that Congress is under no obligation to fund title I at the authorizing level because authorizations are only guidelines. Title I is not your average authorization program. Most educational authorizations don't put requirements on States and local school districts, but the title I program in the No Child Left Behind Act puts more requirements on our Nation's schools than any law in the past 35 years.

This law requires every State to develop a plan for helping all students reach a proficient or advanced level of achievement within 12 years. That is all students. That is all students, not just those in the affluent suburbs. No, not just those in the affluent suburbs, but poor students in Appalachia. That is where I come from, you see. When I was a boy I would have been included, ROBERT BYRD. And the gulf coast includes children with disabilities. Do you hear me? Hear, listen. That includes children with disabilities. And it includes students of all races. How about that? And ethnicity. How about that? All races, all ethnicities.

Schools must leave no child behind--not your child, not my great-grandchild. And if schools that receive title I funds fall short of this goal, they face serious consequences. Schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress in raising student performance for 2 consecutive years--listen to this--have to give students the option of transferring to another public school. Yes. That means the school has to redirect money it would have spent for instruction and use it--for what?--for transportation instead.

This past school year, almost 11,000 schools and districts in the country failed to make adequate yearly progress for at least 2 straight years.

Did you hear that? Almost 11,000--11,000--schools and districts in this country failed this past year to make adequate yearly progress for at least 2 straight years.

The penalties get more severe the longer the school fails to make adequate yearly progress. Ultimately, if a title I school falls short for 5 years in a row, it can be taken over--get this--the school can be taken over by the State, or the entire staff can be fired.

Help me, Cassius, or I sink.

These are serious penalties. The entire staff can be fired. There is the door. There is the door. The entire staff can be fired and replaced. That gets pretty tough. That hits close to home.

These are serious penalties, and I support them. I believe it is high time that we hold schools accountable for their performance and getting their act together. I believe it is high time we hold schools accountable for their performance. But--here is the conjunction ``but''--I also believe that if we in the Congress are going to demand that schools raise student achievement, we, I, you, Senators, all Senators, all Members of the other body, if we are going to demand that schools raise student achievement, we have a responsibility to provide those schools with the additional resources that they need to improve.

That is what we are talking about on this chart. We are falling short. We are falling behind in the No Child Left Behind Act. Unfortunately, as I say, we are not keeping our promise. In fact, for most school districts, Federal funds are moving in the opposite direction. In fiscal year 2004, more than half of the Nation's school districts received less title I funding than they did the year before. What a shame. How about that. Look at that.

Listen. Hear me. I will say that again.

In fiscal year 2004, more than half of the Nation's school districts received less title I funding than they did the year before. In fiscal 2005, two-thirds of school districts took a cut in title I funding.

If Congress passes the Senate bill as it stands now, most districts will receive less title I funding for the third year in a row. That is not what Congress promised. That is not what Congress intended when it passed the No Child Left Behind Act.

The funding level for title I in this bill is a betrayal of the law and it is unfair to all people in this country who are working so hard to implement the law. Parents and teachers want their schools to be held accountable. They want every child--not just this one or that one but every child--to succeed.

They are holding up their end of the bargain. Are we? Are we holding up our end of the bargain? It is time for the Congress to do the same.

I voted for the No Child Left Behind Act. I support the reforms in that law. But schools need more funding if we are truly going to leave no child behind. What is more important than our children? What is more important than the education of our children?

I urge my fellow Senators to approve this amendment. We gave our word to the people, didn't we? Yes, we gave our word to the people when we passed the No Child Left Behind Act. Let us keep our word.

I yield the floor.

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Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I hope the Senate will vote quickly. But before it does, I thank the Senators who have just spoken, particularly the manager of the bill, Mr. Specter. He is an outstanding Senator. I have seen this Senate turn over more than 3 times, complete turnover of 100 Senators more than 3 times. I tell you, my friends, I have never seen a more eloquent, more dedicated Senator to his State, to his people, to the people of this country, to his work here, than Senator Specter. I admire him. Some day when he runs for reelection, I may make a little contribution to him. I will leave that for another time.

I also thank my colleagues. What splendid colleagues they are. Senator Dodd, traveling in the wake of the Senator from Connecticut who signed the Constitution of the United States. What a man, Roger Sherman. And then the Senator from Massachusetts, TED KENNEDY. What a great State that was and is. Read your history on the Revolutionary War, those times. Someone talked recently about the people of my generation who saw World War I, who lived through World War II and the Vietnam War, the other wars we have participated in, the Great Depression. My, these are great Senators. I can see their pictures out there on the medallions in the room just outside this Chamber. And the chairman and ranking member of this committee, my, what Senators they are. They are right, and they are right to oppose it in saying we don't have the money. I know they are right. But Congress could shift those priorities.

How about the big tax cuts for the wealthy? How about the war in Iraq? How much are we spending there in treasure, to say nothing of the blood that is being spilled? Yes, we could do better, but we are doing the best we can under the circumstances now. I don't fault the Senator from Pennsylvania. I admire him. If I were in his position, I would understand his responsibility.

My responsibility is to try. We can do better.

I yield the floor.

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Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I will vote against the Coburn amendment that would have increased funding for the State AIDS Drug Assistance Program by cutting needed funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC.

I have long supported, and will continue to support, increased funding for the State AIDS Drug Assistance Program to assist those suffering from HIV/AIDS in West Virginia and across the Nation. However, I could not support the Coburn amendment that would have reduced funding to upgrade and modernize the public health facilities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, GA.

The current facilities at the CDC are in a state of extreme disrepair. This is unacceptable at a moment when we face a possible avian flu pandemic which could threaten millions of American lives. The CDC serves on the frontlines of our Nation's defense and preparations for such a flu outbreak.

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