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[Page: H8000] GPO's PDF---
Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 399) recognizing the 25th anniversary of the enactment of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Con. Res. 399
Whereas the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (Public Law 94-142) was signed into law 25 years ago on November 29, 1975, and amended the State grant program under part B of the Education of the Handicapped Act ;
Whereas the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 established the Federal policy of ensuring that all children, regardless of the nature or severity of their disability, have available to them a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment;
Whereas the Education of the Handicapped Act was further amended by the Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1986 (Public Law 99-457) to create a preschool grant program for children with disabilities 3 to 5 years of age and an early intervention program for infants and toddlers with disabilities from birth through age 2;
Whereas the Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1990 (Public Law 101-476) renamed the statute as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA);
Whereas IDEA currently serves an estimated 200,000 infants and toddlers, 600,000 preschoolers, and 5,400,000 children 6 to 21 years of age;
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Whereas IDEA has assisted in a dramatic reduction in the number of children with developmental disabilities who must live in State institutions away from their families;
Whereas the number of children with disabilities who complete high school has grown significantly since the enactment of IDEA;
Whereas the number of children with disabilities who enroll in college as freshmen has more than tripled since the enactment of IDEA;
Whereas IDEA has raised the Nation's expectations about the abilities of children with disabilities by requiring access to the general education curriculum;
Whereas improvements to IDEA made in 1997 changed the focus of a child's individualized education program from procedural requirements placed upon teachers and related services personnel to educational results for that child, thus improving academic achievement;
Whereas changes made in 1997 also addressed the need to implement behavioral assessments and intervention strategies for children whose behavior impedes learning to ensure that they receive appropriate supports in order to receive a quality education ;
Whereas IDEA ensures full partnership between parents of children with disabilities and education professionals in the design and implementation of the educational services provided to children with disabilities ;
Whereas IDEA has supported the classrooms of this Nation by providing Federal resources to the States and local schools to help meet their obligation to educate all children with disabilities ;
Whereas, while the Federal Government has not yet met its commitment to fund part B of IDEA at 40 percent of the average per pupil expenditure, it has made significant increases in part B funding by increasing the appropriation by 115 percent since 1995, which is an increase of over $2,600,000,000;
Whereas the 1997 amendments to IDEA increased the amount of Federal funds that have a direct impact on students through improvements such as capping allowable State administrative expenses, which ensures that nearly 99 percent of funding increases directly reach local schools, and requiring mediation upon request by parents in order to reduce costly litigation;
Whereas such amendments also ensured that students whose schools cannot serve them appropriately and students who choose to attend private, parochial, and charter schools have greater access to free appropriate services outside of traditional public schools;
Whereas IDEA has supported, through its discretionary programs, more than two decades of research, demonstration, and training in effective practices for educating children with disabilities , enabling teachers, related services personnel, and administrators effectively to meet the instructional needs of children with disabilities of all ages;
Whereas Federal and State governments can support effective practices in the classroom to ensure appropriate and effective services for children with disabilities ; and
Whereas IDEA has succeeded in marshalling the resources of this Nation to implement the promise of full participation in society of children with disabilities : Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That the Congress--
(1) recognizes the 25th anniversary of the enactment of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (Public Law 94-142);
(2) acknowledges the many and varied contributions of children with disabilities , their parents, teachers, related services personnel, and administrators; and
(3) reaffirms its support for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act so that all children with disabilities have access to a free appropriate public education .
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. GOODLING) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. KILDEE) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. GOODLING).
GENERAL LEAVE
Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on House Concurrent Resolution 399.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Pennsylvania?
Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Today, I am pleased to bring to the floor for consideration House Concurrent Resolution 399, which recognizes and honors the 25th anniversary of the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act on November 29, 1975. I am pleased so many of my colleagues from both sides of the aisle have joined me in cosponsoring the resolution.
Since 1975, when Congress first authorized the original IDEA law, we have refined and improved the law several times. In 1990, the statute was named the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act . As most everyone knows, this act assists States and local school districts with the excess costs of educating students with disabilities .
In each reconsideration of the law, we have worked to ensure greater access to education for all students with disabilities . We also have worked increasingly to improve the quality of the education that children with disabilities receive. I am especially interested in quality education and am pleased by the progress that children with disabilities are making. For instance, children with disabilities are increasingly completing their high school education and embarking on postsecondary educations.
I believe strongly in the goal of IDEA, that every child should have the opportunity to receive a quality education . I note that teachers and school administrators also support this goal. However, we all realize that schools need additional funds to make this goal a reality. To this end, I have consistently fought for increased funding for IDEA during my years in Congress.
As a matter of fact, for the first 20 years in the minority, my colleague, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. KILDEE), and I were the only two who were seeking additional funding, yet we all realize what it means to the local school districts to go without that funding, that 40 percent of the excess cost. That 40 percent is based on the per-pupil cost to educate children nationwide, and 1 or 2 years ago that was $6,300, which means we should have been sending $2,500 plus dollars. Instead, local districts have had to make up the money because we have not done the job.
This is why I kept saying to the President, like every other President, ``You do not need some new thing for a legacy; all you have to do is help me get this 40 percent, then the local districts could do everything they want to do because they would have the money to do it locally.''
Just a couple of examples. We have New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, and Washington, D.C. If Los Angeles had been getting 40 percent, they would be getting an additional $118 million a year. If New York City were getting their 40 percent, they would get $170 million extra every year. Now, imagine what they could have done in all these years to reduce class size, if that is what they wanted to do; or to maintain their buildings or even build new buildings?
These are big dollars we are talking about. Unfortunately, that did not happen. In fact, 2 years in a row the President sent budgets up to the Hill that actually cut the amount of money that would go to special ed. In the last 6 years, I am happy to show, and I am happy to show it because I have been chairman the last 6 years, but I am happy to show that we have doubled the amount of money that has gone back to local school districts, as my colleagues can see on this chart. On this chart we can see the President's request is in yellow and what the Congress has done is in red. So we have been able to double that funding, which means so much to that local school district.
We still have other work to do in relationship to having a perfect IDEA, if there is such a thing as perfect. In our 1997 amendments, we focused the law on the quality education a child with disabilities is to receive rather than upon process and bureaucracy; gave parents greater input in determining the best education for their child; and gave teachers the tools they need to teach all children well.
For instance, these amendments, the Individualized Education Program, is developed with the general curriculum in mind; and students with disabilities are taking district and State-wide assessments in greater numbers. Both of these improvements mean children with disabilities will receive a higher quality education .
[Time: 14:15]
We decreased the amount of paperwork required of teachers so that they have more time to spend with their students. We also dealt somewhat with the discipline problem.
So I am happy to say that, on this anniversary, we are now moving in the right direction both in how we present the program and also in the amount of funding that we are providing, getting closer to that 40 percent based on the per-pupil expenditure in each district.
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I am also happy to say that during the first 20 years, as I indicated, there were only the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. KILDEE) and myself preaching, I thought, to the choir; but we were not preaching to the choir. I guess we were preaching to the heathen, as a matter of fact. But I am happy to say, in the last 6 years, we have people coming out of the woodwork on all sides of the aisle to get this money.
Why? Because I imagine they are hearing from their local school districts what a burden this is to a local school district to try to meet our mandate. It is not actually a mandate. However, if they do not provide a quality education to all children with disabilities , they are going to be in real trouble. So naturally they are going to take the Federal program because they hope they are going to get some Federal support.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I join the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Chairman GOODLING) in urging support for H. Con. Res. 399. I want to commend the chairman for bringing this legislation before the House today.
Several years ago when we both sat on the Committee on the Budget, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Chairman GOODLING) and I had the courage to voice support for full funding of IDEA. We were pretty lonely voices in those days, but we worked very closely together.
Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. GOODLING) is one of the very best friends I have here in the Congress of the United States. For several years, I was his chairman on the subcommittee. But in 1994, I discovered at about 2 in the morning that, for the first time in 40 years, the Republicans had taken control of the Congress of the United States. And I was a survivor, but I was a survivor in Cornwallis' army rather than in Washington's army. And I realized that the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. GOODLING) now was going to be my chairman and not of a subcommittee, he was going to be my chairman of the full committee, of the full Committee on Education and Labor.
So I thought I should give him a call. I called him at 7 o'clock in the morning. And one never calls a politician at 7 o'clock in the morning the day after the election because we are pretty well wiped out from the day before and the night before. But I knew he would be up because the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. GOODLING) is a farmer and he would be up. So I called him at 7 o'clock in the morning. He answered the phone at his home in York, Pennsylvania. I did not identify myself. I said, ``Mr. Chairman.'' And he responded, ``How sweet it is.'' And it was sweet. And I have enjoyed working with him as a member of the committee and he as chairman.
Despite opposition to our early efforts, we have doggedly pursued this goal together; and it has been a joy working with him.
While I am aware that IDEA is presently set to receive a $1.3 billion increase for the coming fiscal year, it is my hope that in the remaining days of this Congress that we can meet the goal of a $2 billion increase that the House established for the passage of the Goodling bill, H.R. 4055.
Clearly, the educational needs of children with disabilities and their access to a free, appropriate public education is a critical issue in ensuring that they become productive members of our society.
The work that we have done on IDEA in the past few years, Mr. Speaker, and the work that we will do in the coming Congresses has been so crucial to ensuring that children with disabilities receive the education to which they are entitled.
All of these efforts started with the passage of Public Law 94-142 on November 29, 1975. Prior to the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act , IDEA's predecessor statute, millions of disabled children received substandard education or no education at all. Some were refused admission into our public schools.
After the passage of 94-142, disabled children were literally brought out of the closets and educated in regular classrooms.
Many individuals have had a role in creating and improving IDEA. I want to especially thank and recognize the parents and advocates of disabled children, for without their tireless efforts, we would not be where we are today.
As a matter of fact, when Michigan passed its Education for the Handicapped, it was passed only because of the advocacy of parents; and their advocacy has persisted to this day. This resolution is a fitting tribute to their many years of work.
In closing, I want to urge Members to support this bipartisan legislation and again commend my very, very dear friend, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. GOODLING), for constantly, constantly bringing this issue before us.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. UPTON), a very important member of the committee.
Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I know that my good friend, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. KILDEE), and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Chairman GOODLING), I was part of that choir that they were preaching to. They had me convinced early on that this bill and funding for IDEA was certainly the right way to go, particularly as I talked to my local school districts, parents, and families back home.
This bill, H. Con. Res. 399, recognizes and honors the 25th anniversary of the passage of IDEA. We strongly believe, everyone I think in this Chamber believes strongly, in the goal of IDEA that every child, every child, should have the opportunity to receive a quality education . We have worked hard to ensure greater access to education for all students with disabilities . We have also worked increasingly to improve the quality of the education that children with disabilities receive.
Over the last 4 fiscal years, IDEA has seen a dramatic increase of $2.6 billion. That is 115 percent increase in the Federal contribution. Prior to that, the Federal contribution was only 7 percent.
Now, in fact, the Federal Government contributes 13 percent of the average per-pupil expenditure to assist with the excess cost of educating a child with a disability. A lot of us would like to see that be increased even beyond 13 percent and get quite a bit closer to the original goal, which is 30 or 40 percent.
During this Congress, the House passed H. Con. Res. 84, the IDEA full-funding resolution that passed 413-2. The resolution stated that IDEA is the highest priority among Federal elementary and secondary education programs and that, in fact, it should provide full funding to school districts as originally promised by the Congress.
The House also passed H.R. 4055, the IDEA Full Funding Act of 2000, by a vote 421-3. This provides an authorization scheduled for reaching the Federal mandate to assist States and local school districts with the excess costs of educating children with disabilities . This bill sets a schedule for meeting the Federal Government's IDEA funding commitment within an achievable time frame.
In the last Congress, we completed the reauthorization of IDEA. The amendments of 1997 brought many improvements to the education that children with disabilities receive. It focused on three things. It focused the law on the education to a child it is to receive rather than upon process and bureaucracy. Amendments gave parents greater input in determining the best education for their children by boosting the role of their parents; and they gave the teachers the tools that they need to teach all children well by reducing the amount of paperwork expected of teachers so that now they will have more time to spend with the students.
This is important legislation. It is an important program, and the Congress should step up to the plate to help our local schools deal with the pressing need that continues to grow in all of our congressional districts.
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