Have made to washington, d. C. , over the years. The the doors that they have knocked on, the efforts that they have contributed are just are just considerable. And you start to name names. You start thinking about tara sweeney and the folks that have been there year in and year out. Those who have been supportive, either traveling back here or those who call, those who write. It really is it really is its gratifying, its heartwarming, and it is it is a its a reality that you can never say thank you for the efforts that you have made over the years. So to know that as you as you spoke as alaskans that your voices have been heard and that congress has finally listened is, indeed, gratifying. And, of course, we would not have reach this point without two particular alaskans, the one im proud to serve with here in our delegation, don young, the dean of the house, the congressman for all alaska. He has singlehandedly kept this issue alive in the house for a generation. It has been 13 times that he has passed it out of the house, and to be able to recognize his really extraordinary work over there it is, indeed, a pleasure and honor and, of course, to my friend and partner here in the senate, senator dan sullivan, an incredible partner in this effort and i thank him greatly for his work. I recognize also that its not just the delegation present that needs to be thanked. Because, as ive said, this has been a decadeslong battle. This has been a generational battle. And were standing in the footsteps of those who have preceded us, and that includes my father, who at a point in time had advanced this only to to see it fail at the very end and, of course, my dear friend, my mentor, one who has really helped give me such great guidance over the years is our former senator ted stevens, and yesterday, mr. President , you may have noticed i was wearing some unusual earrings and my friend ted, former senator stevens, when he had a serious matter in front of him, he wanted the rest of his colleagues to know he was serious today, this was an issue to be taken seriously, and he would dawn a hulk tie, which is Senate Legendary around here. Im not one to wear ties, but when you find a nice pair of hulk earrings, it seems to me only appropriate to ware it on a wear it on a day that would acknowledge the work of extraordinary alaskans who went before me. So i think today uncle ted is smiling and happy and probably wearing his hulk tie. Mr. President , this is a big moment for alaska. There is a spirit and optimism that im taking back home now that i think we havent seen in years. I think it is worth noting that today is winter solstice, it is the shortest day of the year, today and tomorrow, and in alaska it is the darkest day of the year. I mentioned that yesterday as i spoke that the effort that we have seen from the senate and hopefully we will finalize shortly is one that will bring a brightness and energy to the people of alaska, and for that i thank my colleagues and the many alaskans who have supported us in this epic battle and i thank all those who have helped to make it possible. With that, mr. President , i yield the floor. I note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call quorum call mr. Franken mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from minnesota is recognized. Mr. Franken i ask the quorum call be vitiated. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Franken thank you, mr. President. Unlike most of my colleagues, the time i have spent here in the senate represents the sum total of my experience in elected office. For most of my life, i approached politics and Public Policy from a very different perspective. I tried to be an educated citizen who understood how the issues being debated here in washington affected me and my family and my neighbors and those in my state and my country. I tried to be an advocate for the values i believed in honesty in public discourse, for sure, but also fairness and justice in the idea that in america, were all in this together. And i tried to be an activist, putting my voice and my Energy Behind candidates and causes that i cared for for and about. When i leave the senate in a few weeks, i will continue trying to be an educated citizen and an advocate and an activist, but over the last eight and a half years, as i have had the privilege of serving the people of minnesota, i have also gained a new perspective on the issues we face and the way we here in washington make decisions. And before i go, i want to spend some time sharing what i have learned in a series of speeches focusing on the challenges i came to washington to address, the challenges that my colleagues will continue to wrestle with, challenges that will determine not just what kind of Political Landscape we leave for the next generation of senators but what kind of country we leave for the next generation of americans. Today i want to start by talking about education. Even at a time when our politics is more polarized and more poisonous than its ever been, you would think that education is one place where democrats and republicans could come together to make progress. After all, while we do have significant differences on the details of education policy, nobody disagrees about the importance of getting it right. We all agree that education from prek through college and beyond is essential in providing our economy with a Skilled Workforce that is ready to innovate and lead us into the future. Ever since i have been here, employers np minnesota have stressed to me that they need employees with Critical Thinking and problemsolving skills, with teamwork, creativity, tools that we need our children to be developing long before they enter the workforce, and im pretty sure thats what my colleagues hear from employers in their states, too. And, of course, education isnt just about our economy. Its about the most basic responsibility we have as human beings. Many of us who serve here in the senate have children or grandchildren, and we would do anything to be able to promise them that when they grow up, they will be able to follow their dreams, take a risk on themselves to achieve more than we ever could. Many of us remember just how hard our own parents worked to keep that promise to us. And all of us, democrat and republican alike, want to be able to make that promise, not just to our own children but to every child in america, no matter where they grow up or what their family life is like or what obstacles they may encounter along the way. We all want a country where every child, every child has the opportunity to fulfill his or her godgiven potential, and we all understand that whether we can provide every child with a great education is the most basic measure of whether were keeping that promise. Fortunately, the help committee which i had the honor of serving on since i first arrived in the senate has been led by Public Servants who share those values and a common commitment to delivering on that promise. Under chairman hark inn an now now harkin and now under chairman murray, the help committee has often been able to, well, be an example of how democrats and republicans can Work Together to make progress. When i first got here, the debate was focused on no child left behind, which congress had passed and president bush had signed into law in 2002. Democrats and republicans had worked together on that bill back then because they all believed that it was important that our schools be held accountable for the results that they achieved on behalf of all students. But by 2009, it had become clear that no child left behind simply wasnt getting the job done. A couple weeks after i got to the senate, i held a roundtable with principals at a school that had been turned around in a poor neighborhood by a great principal in st. Paul. One of the other principals told me that he referred to the nclb tests as autopsies. I knew exactly what he meant. The kids were taking the test in late april. The results didnt come back until late june or later. Too late to let the results inform teachers instructions of each child. In minnesota, therefore, most School Districts added computer adaptive tests in addition to the nclb tests. Computer adapted. Computer so the teachers could get the results right away. And adaptive so if a kid was getting all the answers right, the questions would get harder. If the kid was getting all the answers wrong, they would get easier. And that way instead of measuring whether or not the student was appropriately proficient at grade level in reading and math, educators could find out exactly what grade level each student was at in those subjects. Adaptive. Nclb, on the other hand, didnt allow schools to test outside of grade level. So schools and teachers were judged simply by whether a sufficient percentage of their kids met this arbitrary standard. This became known as measuring for proficiency and it created what teachers in minnesota described to me as a race to the middle. It made them focus on kids just below and just above proficiency , so ones just below would get above and ones just above would stay above proficiency. And they would ignore the kid at the top, because the kids at the top, no matter what you did, those kids wouldnt go below proficiency. They would ignore the kids at the bottom, because no matter what you did that year, you couldnt get those kids to proficiency. So there was this race to the middle. And think about how perverse that is. Think about a fifth grade teacher who takes a kid from a second grade level of reading to a fourth grade level of reading. That kid didnt get to proficiency, so under no child left behind, that teacher was a goat, but a teacher who helps a child grow by two grade levels in a single year, that teacher is a hero. Teachers, principals, superintendents, School Board Members, and parents all argued that it was time to stop measuring just for proficiency and start measuring for growth. Or measure for just growth instead. Now, this became quickly a central focus of the debate over how to reform no child left behind. And it remains a pivotal debate when it comes to the future of our Education System, which is why it was so shocking when President Trump picked the secretary of education, betsy devos, who turned out to have no idea what the growth versus proficiency debate was even about. It would be as if our childrens future relied on the outcome of a Football Game and the president nominated a head coach who didnt know how many yards it took to get a first down. It was a deeply upsetting moment, not just because of what it revealed about mrs. Devos or the president who had picked her to be in charge of our nations Education System, but because these are the kinds of problems we should be able to solve. Theres nothing ideological about the debate. Its simply a matter of coming together and working in good faith to make things work better. A functioning democracy should be able to get stuff like this right. And sometimes we have. For example, in the bipartisan every Student Succeeds act, we were able to address some of the extensive testing excessive testing that was burdening educators and students alike. Under the new law, schools would still have to test every year between third and eighth grade and once in high school, but each state would control the consequences of the test results, and that would almost certainly mean fewer highstakes tests, less drilling, more time to teach and learn. Meanwhile, the law included important priorities like strengthening stem education, expanding Student Mental Health services, increasing access to courses that help High School Students earn college credit, and preparing and recruiting more and better principals to lead schools. These were all things that i fought to include in that final law. It also included a long overdue investment in Early Childhood education, but not enough. Not enough. We know from study after study that a quality Early Childhood education returns between 7 anr invested, and thats because children who get a quality Early Childhood education are less likely to be referred to special ed, and less likely to be held back a grade. They have Better Health outcomes. Girls are less likely to get pregnant in adolescence. They are more likely to graduate high school, go to college, get a good job, and pay taxes. And they are less likely to go to prison. If we really want to address future deficits, we would be pouring money into training Early Childhood educators. Instead, in his budget to congress, the Trump Administration proposed major cuts to Early Childhood education. And we could easily put more money into these programs if we werent giving enormous tax cuts to the wealthy and to powerful corporations. We also need to make sure that as our kids get older, they can rely on quality Afterschool Programs. Last spring, i visited Roosevelt High School in minneapolis. During my tour of the schools Afterschool Program, i saw students rehearsing for a production of the adams family i saw students getting critical academic support like tutoring and college prep. In fact, roosevelts successful Afterschool Program contributed to their Graduation Rate from going from less than 50 to over 70 in just three years. Thats pretty incredible, and thats why i fought to renew the First Learning Centers program in their reform of no child left behind, the program that keeps schools open after school. If we all agree that education should be a priority, we should be willing to put our money where our mouths are and fund these programs. Im proud that over the course of my time here, we have had bipartisan commitment to doing just that. We have made progress not enough, by any means, but progress. Again, however, that risk under that administration, that Afterschool Program was zeroed out in its proposed budget. And whats more, this administration seems to be outright hostile to the idea that we have responsibility to provide children with a quality Public Education. I am proud of the work that we have done to support and improve our Public Schools, but the department of education is now led by a secretary with a long history of actively undermining Public Education. Secretary devos spent millions of dollars advocating for an ideology to steal funds from Public Schools to fund private education. Lets take a moment to talk about what that means. Secretary devos ran a committee called all children matter which spent millions in Campaign Contributions to promote school vouchers. The argument was these vouchers would allow lowincome students to attend private schools of their familys choice. Secretary devos has been pushing to expand vouchers for years even though Research Clearly shows that voucher programs dont work. In fact, the academic outcome for students who use voucher programs to attend private schools is abysmal. A New York Times article from february of this year reported on three different studies of large state voucher programs in indiana, louisiana, and ohio. Each study found that vouchers negatively impact results in both reading and math. In louisianas voucher program, public elementary School Students who started at the 50th percent ill in percentile in math dropped to the 26th percentile in a single year. Harvard education professor martin west said that the negative effect was the largest i have ever seen in the literature. He was talking about all literature, the entire history of American Education research. Secretary devos is a serious threat to our Public School system and a threat to the quality of education in this country overall. I have pushed as hard as i could to protect our students from what this administration has been trying to do. I have sent the secretary over a dozen letters this year on protecting students from harassment, helping defrauded students and holding forprofit schools accountable. It is my hope that my colleagues will continue to be vigilant in overseag the overseeing the department of education and making sure that our Public Education system is not dismantled. Our Public Education system was designed to give all kids a real clans in life, but teachers and administrators often lack the resources they need to give the kids the opportunities they deserve. Every year i push appropriators to push funding for a number of critical Education Programs like Early Childhood, stem, and professional development for teachers, and i hope my colleagues will continue that fight to increase resources for these programs. In proving improving our Education System isnt just about funding and accountability. If we want to keep the promise of opportunity to every child, we have to recognize that some kids face obstacles that others do not be that we have to do more to make sure that they are not left behind. For example, particularly kids who tbriew up poor grew up poor are far more likely to suffer what is called Adverse Childhood Experiences, not just the stress of living in poverty itself, but exposure to domestic violence, abuse, or neglect, dru