District of Columbia Appropriations Act, 2004-Continued

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2004—CONTINUED

Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, as we proceed with the District of Columbia appropriations bill, I again thank Senator Landrieu for her great work on this bill. We will be proceeding later on today on the issue of the District of Columbia vouchers. I thank Senator Landrieu for her contribution to this discussion.

We are working on some possible amendments, but I wish to take this moment, if I can, to also thank Senator Feinstein for her contribution to that section of the bill. As I have stated publicly in the past—I said it yesterday in a press conference—that section of the bill which has to do with vouchers, the scholarship section was significantly improved because of what my colleague from California, Senator Feinstein, contributed to the bill.

She came to me and Senator Gregg and said: I have some suggestions; I have some changes; I have some ideas that I think need to be in this bill to improve the bill, to bring more accountability; to ensure the bill's constitutionality; and also to make sure that the Mayor of the city of Washington is much more directly involved in running this scholarship program.

We took those suggestions from Senator Feinstein. She drafted sections of the bill, and we incorporated them in the bill.
Those changes are now in the bill that is now before the Senate. I appreciate very much her work.

I yield, without losing my right to the floor, for a question from Senator Landrieu.

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Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I take back my time. I look forward to working with Senator Landrieu to try to accommodate the concerns she has. I know she is well intentioned, certainly dedicated to the children of the District of Columbia, as I talked about earlier today.

I believe the bill before us is a good bill. I believe the scholarship program before us is a good scholarship program. I believe it is clearly constitutional. I believe it is a good program in the sense, as I discussed earlier this morning, that it is value-added. It is a balanced program. It is a program that provides a third of the money for scholarships for the children, $13 million. This is all new money, $13 million new money for the District of Columbia schools, and $13 million additional money for charter schools. It is a three-pronged approach, a very balanced program. I think the language is good language.
The bill before us is a good bill.

In deference to my colleague, with whom I have worked so very closely on this bill over the last few years, certainly we can take some more time to see if it is possible to reach any kind of compromise or accommodation with regard to any additional language that would satisfy her. I am more than happy to take some time to try to do that. I do believe we have a good bill right now. It is a bill that I think is good for the children of the District of Columbia.