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Bob Casey on EducationDemocratic Challenger for PA Senate |
A: I think that's a good approach. Kids need to know about birth control, but not from Washington. I believe that local school districts must have the flexibility to implement sex education programs that are appropriate for their communities.
A: Oppose
Q: What is your position on increasing funding for the Educational Improvement Tax Credit, which encourages businesses to donate to Pre-K- 12 scholarship programs?
A: Due to budgetary constraints, I would want to evaluate the effectiveness of this program before endorsing an increase in funding.
Q: What is your position on the establishment of a state-funded preschool (ages 3-4) program available to all students, regardless of family income, administered exclusively by public school districts?
A: Oppose. I support using state funds to increase the availability of safe, quality and affordable early care and education for families that choose to use these programs.
Proponents support voting YES because:
Rep. OBEY: This bill, more than any other, determines how willing we are to make the investment necessary to assure the future strength of this country and its working families. The President has chosen to cut the investments in this bill by more than $7.5 billion in real terms. This bill rejects most of those cuts.
Opponents recommend voting NO because:
Rep. LEWIS: This bill reflects a fundamental difference in opinion on the level of funding necessary to support the Federal Government's role in education, health and workforce programs. The bill is $10.2 billion over the President's budget request. While many of these programs are popular on both sides of the aisle, this bill contains what can rightly be considered lower priority and duplicative programs. For example, this legislation continues three different programs that deal with violence prevention. An omnibus bill is absolutely the wrong and fiscally reckless approach to completing this year's work. It would negate any semblance of fiscal discipline demonstrated by this body in recent years.
Veto message from President Bush:
This bill spends too much. It exceeds [by $10.2 billion] the reasonable and responsible levels for discretionary spending that I proposed to balance the budget by 2012. This bill continues to fund 56 programs that I proposed to terminate because they are duplicative, narrowly focused, or not producing results. This bill does not sufficiently fund programs that are delivering positive outcomes. This bill has too many earmarks--more than 2,200 earmarks totaling nearly $1 billion. I urge the Congress to send me a fiscally responsible bill that sets priorities.
