Ted Kennedy

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I yield myself 1 minute. I thank the good Senator for bringing this issue to our attention. I might mention, I was with their superintendent of schools in Boston a week ago during our break, Tom Payzant. He was talking about eight kinds of mentors working in schools there and the positive impact they are having in terms of the discipline in the schools and helping to resolve some of the tensions in the schools. He said that 10 years ago he never would have thought this kind of need would be there, but it is there. He said he could use eight more very quickly and easily. It is a good idea. It is a good suggestion. Obviously, it will be voluntary. Communities will have to apply but it is another way of trying to help resolve some of the tensions that exist in many of the schools and provide a safer environment. There are a lot of different ways of trying to do it. This is a very positive and constructive way. We welcome the amendment and urge the passage of it at this time.

Mr. KENNEDY. Yes.

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, the Senator from Florida has spoken to me for 2 days about being able to address the Senate on the importance of education. I mentioned that during the lunch hour there is not as much of a clamor for floor time. He has a short speech. Would it be agreeable to my colleague from Massachusetts if he is able to complete his statement for a brief time, 4 or 5 minutes?

Mr. KENNEDY. If the Senator will yield for a second, I thank the good Senator for his comments. Senator Nelson has been very much involved in the debate on education and has taken a great interest. We have benefited from this involvement. We welcome his continued ideas and recommendations, and we hope he will be even more active as we are dealing with additional educational issues. I am very grateful to him for all his good work and for his excellent statement. I thank the Senator. Amendments Nos. 423 and 455 to Amendment No. 358

Mr. KENNEDY. I will be glad to yield 5 minutes.

Mr. KENNEDY. I urge the acceptance of these amendments. The amendment, as my friend and colleague has pointed out, using the Safe and Drug Free Schools for the development of alternative educational opportunities for these students causing problems in school makes a great deal of sense. This is a problem. One of the things we understand is that children do not learn when they are distracted and there is violence. Even though schools are one of the safest places to be at any time, we know there are incidents which occur. The Senator has made an excellent recommendation. On the issue of the principals, as we have learned very well with the Jeremiah Burke School, a principal took a school that lost accreditation and within 6 years, this last year--and it is the only high school in Boston that is eligible for title I funds, which means it has to have 70 percent eligibility which, in economic terms, are the neediest children probably in the city --this year, 100 percent of the graduates were accepted into college. I think it was as much the principal's leadership in that as anything else. The Senator has for a long time talked about the importance of the quality of principals. This is a particular area he has spent a great deal of time on and has visited a lot of the schools and spoken eloquently and effectively on the issue. These are two very good amendments. I thank the Senator for the good work he does on education.

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, we are prepared to accept the amendments.

Mr. KENNEDY. We are prepared to yield back the remainder of the time.

Mr. KENNEDY. I move to reconsider and lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 630, As Modified

Mr. KENNEDY. I thank the Senator from Washington for this proposal. She brings enormous experience in this area as one who has demonstrated, in another life, great perception about the possibilities of the computer world and what it can mean for enhancing education. Her recommendations in the form of this amendment are something we value. We have provisions reflected in the legislation, as the Senator has noted, but I think this perception that she has brought with this amendment will be enormously useful and valuable. We had a good description of the proposal earlier last evening. She has given us additional comments today. We are prepared to recommend the amendment be accepted. I do so at this time. I think we are prepared to accept it. I thank the Senator for her diligence in pursuing this matter. She has been enormously cooperative with the floor managers in arranging to bring this to the attention of the Senate. We are grateful to her for her accommodation but most importantly for the substance of this proposal, which will add to the enhancement of children's knowledge in the area of computer technology. We are prepared to accept that.

Mr. KENNEDY. We yield the remainder of our time.

Mr. KENNEDY. I thank the Chair and I thank the Senator.

Mr. KENNEDY. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, we are expecting a vote in a few moments on the Dodd amendment. Sometime after that, we will be dealing with the Hutchinson amendment and then the Schumer proposal. There will be the Schumer proposal and then there will be another first-degree amendment. Then later in the afternoon, after those, we hope to consider the Clinton amendments. This gives an idea on how we are going to be spending the early afternoon, midafternoon. That ought to bring us into mid-late afternoon. We are making very important progress. We still have some important measures yet to address. But we are making good progress. We are very grateful for the cooperation of our colleagues. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I yield myself a minute and a half.

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, with respect to the amendment No. 431, as modified, I ask unanimous consent that the yeas and nays be vitiated.

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, today we are again in a position to clear amendments by unanimous consent. Therefore, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order for these amendments to be considered en bloc, and any modifications, where applicable, be agreed to, the amendments be agreed to, en bloc, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, en bloc. They are Reed amendment No. 433, Reed amendment No. 436, Reed amendment No. 431, as modified, and Specter amendment No. 419.

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, just 15 seconds. We are going to hold Members accountable on the amount of time for the vote on this amendment. So I hope all Members will make it their business to be in the Chamber on time because we have to accommodate other Members who have accommodated our schedule. We are making good progress. We are going to conform to the Senate rules in relation to the time for the vote on this amendment.

Mr. KENNEDY. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I understand that the final modification may take a moment or two. There is the question about out of which fund the resources will come. I understand the proponents want it out of the Secretary's discretionary fund rather than the initial funding, which was about $125 million that was going to be used for bonuses for States and communities that meet their responsibilities in developing their tests. We are just checking on the cross-reference number. That aside, I thank Senator Hutchinson and Senator Sessions for their cooperation in working this amendment through. We have a procedure in place now so we can focus responsibility if there is a denial for access to the campuses of this country. It does seem to me that the armed services ought to have the same ability for access to students as other groups that are recruiting at these universities and colleges and schools. I think that is a rather basic and fundamental concept and one with which I agree. I think we have a proposal to try to move that process forward. There is some existing legislation in place. This is a restatement of that legislation because there has been some question in some minds whether the existing legislation did the job. I thought the member of the Committee on Armed Services, the one who had visited this issue previously, thought it did, but we have some additional ways of encouraging schools and colleges and law schools to give consideration to recruiters. That has been included in this amendment. That is acceptable to me, and I hope when it is finalized, which should be in a moment, we will move ahead and accept the amendment.

Mr. KENNEDY. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Previously Submitted Amendment No. 458

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I join with my friend and colleague from Connecticut in pointing out to this body the unfairness of the treatment of Puerto Rico. If I am not mistaken, I think they have a greater participation in the military forces of this country than any State or other territory. I remember at one time when we were battling on questions of the Food Stamp Program pointing out the number of Puerto Rican Congressional Medal of Honor winners in the conflicts of this Nation. They are, in many instances, the earliest units that get called up to the service of this country. They have served all over the globe and have proudly worn the American uniform. Yet they are being constantly shortchanged in this extraordinarily important area, important to families in our 50 States. But these families in Puerto Rico care as deeply as any families do in any part of the United States about their children, and the hopes and dreams of those children are just as real as the hopes and dreams of children here. So I give assurance to the Senator. We have talked about this. It was raised briefly in the markup of our committee. We will work with our colleagues on the other side and with our friends in Puerto Rico and hopefully with the administration to move us in the direction of treating them equitably and fairly. They are not so treated at this time. I think the American people would certainly support that. If we are able to get the additional funding, which I am hopeful we are able to do, the opportunities will be even greater. But I thank the Senator for bringing up this subject. We want to give full notice to all of our colleagues that we are going to try to find a way to treat Puerto Rico fairly, as they should be treated and as they are not being treated at the present time. I thank the Senator for bringing this matter to our attention.

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Schumer be recognized to offer an amendment regarding funding with 40 minutes for debate; further, that when Senator Domenici offers his amendment regarding funding, which is at the desk, the debate be limited to 40 minutes; further, that the debate on the two amendments be divided as follow: Senators Schumer, Domenici, Gregg, and Kennedy; further, that upon the use or yielding back of the time, the Senate vote in relation to the Domenici amendment followed by 4 minutes for closing debate, and a vote in relation to the Schumer amendment with no second-degree amendments be in order.

Mr. KENNEDY. I so add ``or their designee.''