Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2005--Resumed

DEFICIT REDUCTION OMNIBUS RECONCILIATION ACT OF 2005--RESUMED -- (Senate - November 03, 2005)

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Mr. REED. Madam President, while the Enzi-Kennedy amendment passed on a voice vote, I want the record to reflect my opposition to this amendment.

We have all seen the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and I certainly understand and share my colleagues' desire to address the needs of displaced school children.

Unfortunately, this amendment, which frankly is more than 2 months overdue, falls far short of the help needed for the affected families and public schools. It falls short financially, since it provides less money than these schools need in order to re-open and serve the children of the Gulf Coast. It also falls short constitutionally by making payments to private religious schools on behalf of students who fled these hurricanes and are now attending such schools across the country.

Now, I understand that these hurricanes did not differentiate between public and private school students, and that we need to be able to provide some assistance for all students affected by them. However, this amendment is not the answer. As my colleagues are very well aware, we currently have a mechanism in current law to provide support to students in private schools. We do it everyday under Title I and Title V of NCLB, and under IDEA.

These children should have been helped over 2 months ago with the funding mechanisms we already have in place. That is why this amendment is not about getting help to these students. This is about using these students' needs as a pawn to further the Republican agenda of vouchers.

In addition, we are doing a disservice to families displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita by not informing them that this assistance is just for this school year. No where in this legislation is there a requirement that parents be notified that this assistance is temporary and that it will not be renewed beyond August 2006. Instead of being fair to these parents by providing them with transparent information, this amendment fails to include a provision to notify parents that this assistance is time-limited. We have an obligation to inform parents receiving this assistance that this funding is a one-time deal. Without clear language on this point, language which I suggested to the sponsors of the amendment, parents will have an unfounded expectation that this aid will be there next year and perhaps even for years to come. These families are settling down in new communities, and they may lack the resources, ability, or desire to go back to the gulf coast.

Of course, we want to help families in their moment of need and distress. I understand my colleague, Senator Landrieu's position on this matter, and her sincere desire to help her constituents. I too believe this assistance to schools, both public and private, is important, needed, and appropriate. But this amendment could and should have been structured in a way that contains clear notification requirements and that mirrors current law.

This legislation is not the direction we should be heading. This legislation is a stalking horse for a national voucher program. At the same time, it provides less funding than is needed to repair and fund our devastated public schools. It provides very little accountability for the use of taxpayers' funds and provides little or no enforcement of the civil rights protections that would exist if money were sent through existing funding mechanisms.

I want to thank Senators Enzi, Alexander, Kennedy, and Dodd, because I know that they have worked very hard to improve this amendment, and I appreciate their efforts. I urge my colleagues to continue to work to address the concerns I have raised as this bill moves forward.

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