Congressional Record—Senate S11453
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November 18, 2004 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S11453 President and the Governors, by agreeing to tional history, educational reform has been a ever to grace this body, TOM DASCHLE the need for national education goals and vital and characteristic part of the American of South Dakota. agreeing on a strategy for developing those impulse. We have always believed that we Unsurprisingly, I am sure I have goals, had agreed upon a framework. There can, by the force of our own imagination and known TOM longer than anyone here. I WOULD be a Federal role; education WOULD determination, improve tomorrow by im- vividly remember his first campaign be a national issue, addressed with national proving ourselves and our children. solutions. But, never has it been more important that for Congress in 1978, the same year I It meant that educational decisions would our traditional convictions give rise to delib- ran for the South Dakota House of no longer be settled solely at the local level. erate action. Representatives for the first time. We It meant that legislative deliberations at the If ignorance is the enemy of democracy, in were two young candidates, almost the State and Federal levels would become rel- an international economy, ignorance could same age, recent graduates, the same atively less important, and executive deci- well be an invitation to national decline. In year, of South Dakota colleges. While sion and vision relatively more important. 1989, it was clear and apparent that the time we were running for very different of- That’s what happens when results are re- had arrived for us to put ourselves on the fices, I felt an immediate bond with quired; when speeches, money and programs spot, That was the message I heard in Char- him at that time. are just not enough. lottesville, TOM’s first race for Congress was in This all seems like conventional wisdom Accountability and the measurement of today, but we can easily forget it was not al- student performance, we declared, must be many ways predictive of the career ways so. The 1989 Summit had a real impact, an integral part of our educational process. that would follow. He was then, and far beyond the imagining of those of us privi- Indeed, Charlottesville portended a signifi- still is, the hardest working, most fo- leged enough to have participated. It fun- cant shift in our approach to education: cused person I have ever met in any damentally changed the balance of political From here on, we said that we are going to sphere of my life. That year he power on education issues, and it national- be increasingly measured by more than the knocked on more than 40,000 doors, per- ized education policy in a way few would resources we invest. Instead, we declared sonally asking South Dakotans for have conceived just a few years earlier. that we are going to be questioned and exam- their vote. I can tell you, knocking on CONCLUSION ined on the progress our students achieve— 40,000 doors in the middle of a South or fail to achieve. When the President called for a Summit Dakota winter is a real challenge. with the Nation’s Governors to discuss edu- Frankly, I think that is how it should be— TOM looked so young he was once cation, many observers may not have known for there is too much at stake for it to be what to expect. I don’t recall any of the Gov- otherwise. mistaken as the paperboy at one of ernors believing beforehand that, while we In 1989, the President and the governors those doors—a woman asked how much agreed on the need for national goals, we joined efforts to ensure that America be- money she owed him. I have a photo I would settle the argument over Federal in- comes a Nation resolved to using education cherish to this day of TOM and me to- volvement in education, or that we would as the best means for shaping the future. The gether during that first campaign, both shift the Federal focus on education from reason we are here today is to assess our na- of us looking like we were 14 years old. one end of Pennsylvania Avenue to the tional performance since 1989. Where are the It makes you wonder how anyone voted other. benchmarks of progress? Where are the for either of us at that time. guideposts for confronting the challenges? I do recall a great deal of skepticism and I remember watching the election re- criticism from outside observers, especially Our speakers and panelists today are here Congress and the press. But I do not recall to help us make those assessments. I share turns coming in for TOM’s campaign anything but the most constructive attitude your interest in their opinions of how far we that evening and it didn’t look very being expressed by any of the principal par- have come, and I am confident that they will good, frankly. In fact, when I went to ticipants. And, by the way, this was a meet- focus our attention on the significant chal- bed that night I was almost certain he ing of principals, very few staff aides were lenges at hand. had lost. It was only when I woke up permitted much of a role at all. Today, as in 1989, we recognize that we that I found TOM was only behind by 50 It is worth noting, by the way, that the have a lot of work to do, and we should al- votes with a recount certain, and as it participants—despite all of the good will and ways keep in perspective that all of our edu- turned out, he was certified the winner convergence of thinking on the value of set- cational goals, commitments and resources ting national goals—did not settle on spe- come down to two fundamental points: officially by 14 votes out of 130,000 cific goals at the Summit. We agreed on the First, education’s role as a transmitter of votes cast. Who would have dreamed need for goals, and, in general, what those civilization’s knowledge and values must not that such a close victory in South Da- goals should address. The actual goals them- be diminished. It is part of the glue that kota would have been the beginning of selves, however, were not developed until binds together the fabric of our society. such a distinguished career? several months later. Second, education is, also, increasingly, In the intervening years, I watched But, for the first time, the President and the engine that drives the American econ- with admiration while TOM’s career ad- Governors were discussing on a national omy—our economic future depends upon our vanced in the House of Representa- level a series of important questions. Many ability to compete, but our ability to com- tives. He was a natural leader, and I do of these had long been discussed and debated pete depends upon our ability to educate. It in the States, and particularly in the South- is just that simple. not believe that many who knew him ern Regional Education Board states. These Thank you. I look forward to the rest of were surprised, in 1986, when he decided questions included, among others: the Conference. to run for the Senate, taking on the Intervention: Could we do a better job of Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I same man who, 6 years previously, de- preparing children for first grade? suggest the absence of a quorum. feated Senator George McGovern, an Dropout rates: Could we slow the tide? institution in our State. Adult literacy: Could we put a dent in it, The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. It was far from an easy race, but TOM even eliminate it? CHAMBLISS). The clerk will call the prevailed in the end, and his leaving Teacher quality: Could we motivate and in- roll. his House seat opened it for my elec- spire it? The assistant legislative clerk pro- Decentralized management: Could it tion that year as well. It was the cul- ceeded to call the roll. produce better results? mination of those two elections which And, parental choice: Could this be a work- Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I ask led to an extremely close working rela- able technique or just the latest fad? unanimous consent that the order for tionship but also to a very close friend- In the end, it was a focus on such questions the quorum call be rescinded and I be that formed the basis of the goals and the ship. recognized to speak in morning busi- I have spent the last 18 years work- national education policy that we know ness. today. ing side by side with TOM DASCHLE. I I believe the Education Summit was, to The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without cannot imagine a better partner with paraphrase Winston Churchill, the ‘‘begin- objection, it is so ordered. whom to work. He is, as I mentioned ning of a new beginning’’ in education pol- f earlier, the hardest working person I icy. I believe the way we think, as a Nation, have ever known. He is also the most about the goals and objectives of education TRIBUTES TO RETIRING SENATORS patient person I have ever known, as began to change in September, 1989. well as unfailingly generous—qualities Unsurprisingly, we did not find all the an- TOM DASCHLE swers at the Summit. But we were asking that served him very well as Senate the right questions—and for the first time, Mr.