Jim Walsh

Mr. WALSH of New York

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I rise in reluctant opposition to my friend's amendment. The gentleman's amendment really is unnecessary, and it duplicates work that the Justice Department is engaged in under the Prescription Drug Monitoring Grant Program. I understand that primarily, as a result of the efforts of Mr. Rogers of Kentucky, the Justice Department has been operating for several years, running a grant program to assist States in building and enhancing prescription drug monitoring systems, facilitating the exchange of information among States, and providing technical assistance and training for effective State programs. The Office of Justice Programs runs this grant program, along with the assistance and technical expertise of the Drug Enforcement Administration and is currently funded at $7.5 million. From all accounts, the Justice Department effort is well run and effective. For that reason, I ask Members to oppose this amendment, which would set up a competing and duplicative program. Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, my amendment, which I intend to withdraw, is very simple. It would prohibit the Department of Education from counting test scores for English language learners against school districts until after the student completes 3 years of English language instruction. In our subcommittee's hearing, with Secretary Spellings, I raised some concerns regarding English Language Arts Test that student learning to speak English as a second language were given this year. In my home State, there are over 192,000 immigrant students learning English, the majority of whom are in kindergarten through third grade. In the city of Syracuse, my hometown, we have an elementary school in which 43 percent of the kids are English language learners learning English as a second language. I recognize that there are benefits to monitoring ELL student achievement on an annual basis. But school systems should not be penalized for student scores after only 1 year of instruction. I'd like to state emphatically that we need to make sure that all of our kids speak and read English proficiently. It is essential to their ability to compete in a very competitive society and a very competitive world. And it is essential to the long-term viability of the American culture that we can all speak to each other in the same tongue. But I've learned other languages myself, some better than others, and it took me more than 1 year to be considered proficient. Let's not punish our schools, declaring them failing, before they've spent enough time to teach English thoroughly to our kids. So although I intend to withdraw this amendment, it would be my hope that Chairman Miller and Ranking Member McKeon are aware of this problem and will take steps to address it when we reauthorize No Child Left Behind.

Mr. WALSH of New York. I would be happy to yield to the chairman.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Reclaiming my time, I would be pleased to join with my chairman in signing that letter, and thank him for his support, knowing that as chairman of the full committee and of the subcommittee, his voice will be heard on the authorization committee.

Mr. WALSH of New York. I'd be happy to yield.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Mr. Chairman, I would like to speak in support of this amendment. I hadn't intended to, but I think it's a good amendment, partially because it provides additional funds to IDEA. In committee, we amended the bill to add $335,000,000 more to IDEA. This is a small one, but it's helpful. More importantly, this concept of community schools is a wonderful concept. But that's what we have committees for, committees of jurisdiction, to vet these ideas. In my hometown of Syracuse, there's lots of talk about community schools. Remembering that primary and secondary education is a responsibility of the municipality, the county and the State and not of the Federal Government is an important thing to consider. A community school in Syracuse is very different than a community school in Maryland or California or Arizona. But more importantly than all of that is that our schools, especially our inner-city schools, are having a very difficult job graduating the kids now. In fact, many of our urban schools aren't even graduating 50 percent of the kids who start in ninth grade. That's a fact. No one is comfortable with that fact, but it is a fact. So why would you provide or require or suggest to a school that is already only attaining 50 percent of its responsibility with its primary task, why would you give them additional work? Why would you give them additional responsibilities? Maybe there's good reason for that, but there is certainly a committee structure. The education committee has plenty of experts and staff to try to determine the best way to approach this. I admire the author of the concept's ingenuity, but this really needs to go through committee to have proper authorization. Absent that, I think this is a good idea. Ten million dollars will go into a program that everyone knows needs more money, that we are putting additional burdens on those local school districts by not providing this money. It would provide some relief to them to meet their primary task of educating our kids. So I think this is a very good amendment. I strongly support it. Mr. Chairman, I yield at this time to the author of this amendment such time as she may consume.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Mr. Chairman, I would like to state a parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. WALSH of New York. The question is, have we disposed of the pending amendment before the Committee?

Mr. WALSH of New York

Mr. WALSH of New York. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I yield time to the distinguished gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers), who has shown such great interest and leadership in this issue regarding math and science education.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. WALSH of New York. I thank the gentleman. Briefly, Madam Chairman, this is a real dilemma. We just cut the administrative budget by $125 million for historically black colleges. This is another $25 million. The need is clearly there. I think the subcommittee's done a good job providing funds, but it is a dilemma and I think Members are going to have a tough decision to make on this amendment. Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WALSH of New York. I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. WALSH of New York. I rise in opposition to this amendment on behalf of the gentleman from Virginia's Sixth Congressional District, Mr. Goodlatte. He is involved in the markup of the Agriculture bill this evening, and so I would like to place this statement in the Record on his behalf. Madam Chairman, for Members not familiar with Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest in Bedford, Virginia, the House was designed in 1806, and the grounds are located about an hour south of Charlottesville in the heart of central Virginia. This investment of Federal funds will allow the landmark to open to the public 50 acres of hallowed ground once roamed by this farmer, diplomatic, meteorologist, President, and author of the Declaration of Independence; indeed, America's first Renaissance man. Poplar Forest was an important part of Jefferson's life, a private retreat situated far from the public scrutiny and demands on our Nation's third President. It was his most personal architectural creation and landscape, a place where he came to find rest and leisure, to rekindle his creativity, and to enjoy private time with his family. Poplar Forest was also a working plantation, critical to his efforts as a farmer. In fact, the area around Poplar Forest is where Mr. Jefferson was forced to retreat while being pursued by British troops. Today, scholars and historians work on restoring the home to its original design and conduct archeological research on the farming, landscaping and slave life of the grounds. While the staff at Poplar Forest continues to restore the historic land and house, they are working on the first steps of developing the retreat for public use. As is the case with other historic Presidential sites, it will take time to tap the extraordinary potential of Poplar Forest to provide even more insight into one of America's most influential and public figures whose ideas still influence world debate and even govern rules of decorum on the House floor this evening. Madam Chairman, while I share the gentleman's desire for fiscal responsibility, I will inform him that the private sector has furnished 84 percent of the funds it has taken to bring Poplar Forest's rescue and development through the initial stages. However, given the clear national role that Thomas Jefferson's legacy plays in our cultural heritage, I believe that Federal investment is prudent. It is vital to preserve this national treasure, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, so that all Americans can continue to learn about Jefferson's life and his vision for the future of our country. I offer this for Mr. Goodlatte. I'm sure he would be here, but duty calls at the Agriculture Committee. Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. WALSH of New York. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I absolutely agree with the chairman; this is an issue that we all feel very deeply about. And in order to be consistent with all Members, if an amendment is out of order, we will enforce the rule. But I will absolutely work with the chairman and with the gentleman from New Jersey to try to remedy this before we get through the conference.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Would the gentleman yield?

Mr. WALSH of New York. We would be happy to accept the amendment also.

Mr. WALSH of New York

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chair, I rise in support of the amendment.

Mr. WALSH of New York. I would be happy to yield.

Mr. WALSH of New York. I thank the gentleman. Reclaiming my time, there have been a number of amendments that have cut into this salaries and expenses administrative account. I suspect there will be more. We need to be very careful about further deep cuts. And this is an especially large cut, $50 million. So I would, again, urge a ``no'' vote. Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.