May 9, 2001 Mr. CONRAD. Will the Senator yield for a question? Mr. KENNEDY. I yield for a question. Mr. CONRAD. The Senator had up a chart that shows the Bush increase compared to the Clinton proposal. Mr. KENNEDY. Yes, the differences in proposed Elementary and Secondary Education Act increases. Mr. CONRAD. That is what is in the President's proposal. It is very interesting. We had the Senator from Texas hold up a chart that talked about the President's proposal. Will the Senator from Massachusetts correct me if I am wrong? Are we voting on the President's proposal or are we voting on the conference report? Mr. KENNEDY. The Senator, who has spoken so eloquently, knows we are voting on the budget conference report. Mr. CONRAD. And would the Senator from Massachusetts correct me if I am wrong. As I read the conference report, there is no increase in any year for education, other than the sense-of-the-Senate language buried deep in the document that every Senator knows isn't worth the paper it is written on because it means zero. Isn't that correct? Mr. KENNEDY. The Senator is absolutely correct and reminds us about the importance of being accurate in the representation of what is in this budget. I hope that those on the other side will take the time to come out here, because we are challenging them on this point on education. Come out here and refute us. Show us where we are wrong. I would welcome that opportunity to hear how we are wrong. As the Senator from North Dakota has pointed out, the language is what is guiding. It isn't what we think might be in here. It isn't what might be in here at some time. It is what is in here. It is what is written down for all to see. The Senator has pointed out the controlling language which shows that there is no increase in education. Education is funded at current services, adjusted for inflation. That is against a background of an administration that has said: "Education is the No. 1 priority. We are not going to leave a child behind." Well, we know that two-thirds of the children are being left behind with the current expenditures in title I--two-thirds of them. And 50 percent of the children are being left behind in the Head Start Program. And 95 percent of the children are being left behind in Early Head Start. And we know we are only funding about 15 percent of the eligible children in terms of the childcare for working mothers. We are leaving no child behind? We are leaving them all behind, a whole generation behind. That is what this budget does. Mr. CONRAD. Will the Senator yield for another question? Mr. KENNEDY. I am glad to. I hope the Senator will give me 5 more minutes at the end. Mr. CONRAD. I would be happy to do that. It is interesting, our friends on the other side, first of all, they hold up the Bush budget, which has nothing to do with what we are voting on here. We are voting on the conference report that has no increase in education. They also tried to misrepresent what the Bush increase was by claiming credit for money that was advance funded last year when he was Governor of Texas. He didn't have a thing to do with it. They count that in their so-called 11-percent increase he has proposed. Of course, none of that is relevant to what we are doing here because we are dealing with the conference report. Correct me if I am wrong because I look at discretionary spending, the total pot of money that education comes out of, and just to keep pace with inflation it requires $663 billion for 2002. The conference report says they have $661 billion available. So they have cut $2 billion in the total pool of money from which education funding comes. On top of that, defense is about half, and they have increased defense by $3.3 billion. So other nondefense programs have to be cut by $5.5 billion to make this budget. Will the Senator from Massachusetts indicate whether that is a correct conclusion or not? (Mr. BROWNBACK assumed the Chair.) Mr. KENNEDY. Well, just in answering--and I intend to--I was looking at page H1867 of the budget that Republicans filed before they lost their two pages last Friday, which contains the exact same numbers for education, Function 500, as the budget they filed today, if you look at page H1960. I don't know whether the Senator is looking at this particular passage. It has in here education training employment and social services. Then it has the budget authority, the outlays for 2001; from 2002 with $76 billion; for 2003, $81 billion; 2004, $83 billion; 2005, $85 billion--you get the drift--then $85 billion to $87 billion. It goes up about $2 billion a year. That looks like flat funding to me, adjusted only for inflation, which describes what is going happen if Republicans have their way. Flat funding on education all the way to the year 2011. Let me ask the Senator this. In this budget proposal, they include figures in the tax program, don't they--for example, for all of the out years; am I correct? Maybe the Senator can inform me. As I understand it, the budgeteers were able to say what would be given or returned to taxpayers all the way through to 2011, but we can't do it with regard to education. Mr. CONRAD. The Senator makes a powerful point. What they have done--when they want to reserve money for something, they know how to do it. When they want to reserve money for the tax cut, it is in a reconciliation instruction that goes to the Finance Committee, and they have to report it. When they want to reserve money for defense, they know how to do it. They create a special fund, and the chairman of the committee will decide how much we spend on defense. It is a remarkable thing that one person has the power to decide what we are going to spend on defense. When they want to have funding for education, there is no reserve fund. They say it is the top priority. There is no reserve fund, and there is no increase. In fact---- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts has 5 minutes remaining. Mr. CONRAD. We are talking a real increase for education. It would require more than inflation, would it not, because the student populations are growing. It isn't enough to just offset inflation. The school population is growing. So the truth of the matter is, in real terms, education is being cut under this budget. Mr. KENNEDY. Well, the Senator is correct. The fact is, the poorest students--yes, poorest students--in America over the last few years have increased in terms of poverty, yet the budget includes nothing to address their needs. We expect a doubling in those attending school who speak foreign languages, yet we have nothing in this budget but current services; no increase. The total numbers of students are increasing, and we'll have a million more to educate by 2009. We will have a million more students that will come to school over the next 9 years whose interests aren't even being taken care of. This budget is a complete abdication of responsibility to students in this country. I wonder if I could have 10 minutes for to offer my prepared remarks for the consideration of my colleagues. Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senator from Massachusetts be given 10 minutes off the bill.