Senate Proceeding on Mar 1st, 2011 :: 0:43:00 to 0:58:25
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0:42:57 to 0:43:18( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: and this afternoon i'll be back to ask unanimous consent -- no budget, no pay. thank you very much, madam and i yield the floor. a senator: madam pre the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: madam presiden president, i appreciate the comments of my frerntiondz the

0:43:00 to 0:58:25( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Lamar Alexander

0:43:19 to 0:43:40( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: senator from california -- of my friend, the senator from california. we have to be serious about the country's debt. admiral mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff says debt is our biggest national security threat. anyone in my state looks what the we are spending in washington and is astonished.

0:43:41 to 0:44:01( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: i mean, we're spending this year $3.7 trillion. we're collecting $2.2 trillion. so the house of representatives s. has said, let's take a step -- a serious step -- for dealing with that debt. i applaud them for that. that number is a number that we on the republican side are going to try to support in the senate.

0:44:02 to 0:44:23( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: we may have our own priorities within that reduced number. but we need to get serious about the entire -- the entire problem of america's debt. it goes directly also to the problem of jobs that we have in our country today. the last democratic congress and the president's policies have thrown a big, wet blanket on private-sector job creation in america.

0:44:24 to 0:44:45( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: and one of the biggest parts of the wet blanket is the big debt. according to aeconomists, it costs us -- according to economists, it costs us a million jobs a year. the big debt creates the potential for higher interest rates. that makes it harder to create jobs. it soaks up capital that could be used to create jobs t creates uncertainty, it creates a lack of confidence.

0:44:46 to 0:45:06( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: there's a lot of spirit in this senate to find a consensus on how to deal with the debt. i want to be one of those who does that. and i look forward to a serious discussion of those efforts. madam president, in jerusalem last week during a private meeting with the united states

0:45:07 to 0:45:27( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: senators, the prime minister of israel suggested creating a new marshall plan to help people of middle eastern countries who are struggling to gain more freedom. i was one of the senators in that meeting. in one important way prime minister netanyahu's proposal is different from the plan that

0:45:28 to 0:45:48( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: helped rebuild western europe after world war ii. its funding would not come from the united states government but from private gifts and foundations worldwide. instead of the money going for rebuilding bombed-out industrial plants and roads as it did after world war ii, it would more likely be spent in the middle east now on schools, on health

0:45:49 to 0:46:09( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: clinics and on clean water. fundamentally, though, the plans are very similar. both general george c. marshall in 1947 and prime minister netanyahu today proposed helping adversaries as well as allies, both aimed to relieve hunger,

0:46:10 to 0:46:33( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: poverty, desperation and chaos. both proposals are based squarely on self-interest as antidotes to the spread of philosophies unfriendly to democracy, communism in the case of postwar europe and militant islam in the middle east today. in both cases applicants for the money would write their own plans.

0:46:34 to 0:46:54( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: in 1948, 16 nations met in paris to develop the marshall plan. president truman then submitted it for approval to the united states congress. most of the money was distributed by grants that did not have to be repaid. the first marshall plan was short term, from 1948 to 1952,

0:46:55 to 0:47:15( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: and so should be this new marshall plan. the goal is not to create depend seus but to help people stand on their own. there are some important differences between the idea of the marshall plan after world war ii and prime minister netanyahu's proposal for the middle east. the new middle east marshall

0:47:16 to 0:47:36( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: plan would cost much less. the original marshall plan spent with between $115 billion and $130 billion in today's dollars over those four years. if a middle eastern plan carefully distributed a few billion dollars over five years, it could have an enormous impact.

0:47:37 to 0:47:58( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: the marshall plan started out after world war ii buying food and fuel and ended up rebuilding bombed-out industrial plants, roads and other infrastructure. in addition to schools and clinics, a middle eastern marshall plan is more likely to spend money on, for example, a crop of young people who are

0:47:59 to 0:48:20( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: paid a subsistence wage to strengthen their own country. marshall plan money twoepbt 16 you're -- went to 16 european governments. money for a middle eastern plan should probably be distributed through nongovernmental organizations. after world war 24 there was an effort to impose on europe and

0:48:21 to 0:48:42( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: japan the american model. we should have learned by now that the path to democracy in the middle east is more likely to be uniquely middle eastern. the original marshall plan was paid for mostly by united states taxpayers. money for this new plan should come from around the world, mostly from private gifts.

0:48:43 to 0:49:03( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: the first marshall plan was used mostly for purchase of goods from the united states. today those goods would be purchased from around the world. what are the next steps? first, a coalition of foundations should step forward and announce its willingness to

0:49:04 to 0:49:24( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: consider proposals from egypt and other middle eastern countries that would assist a transition to a more democratic form of government. second, the first grant should be quickly approved, probably to nongovernmental organizations already in place. the original marshall plan moved slowly.

0:49:25 to 0:49:48( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: in this age of instant communication, freedom fighters expect immediate results. some evidence of improvement in their lives could help sustain a movement toward democracy against the lure of militant islam. an early state department memorandum compared general

0:49:49 to 0:50:09( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: marshal's proposal to a flying saucer. "nobody knows what it looks like. nobody knows how big it is. and nobody knows whether it really exists." unquote. prime minister netanyahu's proposal also is usefully vague. with details to be filled in later by applicants for grants.

0:50:10 to 0:50:30( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: but shouldn't it be enough simply to propose helping people struggling for freedom based upon the belief that their success will benefit other democratic countries, including the united states and israel?

0:50:31 to 0:50:51( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: now, madam president, if i may turn to another subject, in rochester, new york, today and tomorrow family and friends are celebrating the life of david kearns who died a few days ago at age 80.

0:50:52 to 0:51:12( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: david kearns was a executive officer of the xerox corporation who during the 1980 led that corporation to win back the copying market from the japanese. along the way he found time to become america's most effective business leader who was a champion of education reform, especially for pushing new

0:51:13 to 0:51:34( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: technology into he served as deputy education secretary under the first president bush while i was the secretary of education in 1991, 1992 and i rember first meeting david kearns in 1990 when i president of the university of tennessee and had my office in

0:51:35 to 0:51:55( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: foxville -- in knoxville. he came into my office. on the way he said hello to every single person in the outer office and every single other person he met while i was there. and he rembered every single one of their names. i didn't forget that, and they didn't forget him. when david kearns left the university of tennessee from

0:51:56 to 0:52:16( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: that visit i bought his book about education reform and read it. later that year president bush called me and asked me to become his education secretary. i asked the president if i could put together my own team subject to his approval and then if we could put together our own plan subject to his approval. two of the smartest questions i ever asked because that meant i

0:52:17 to 0:52:37( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: didn't have to go through the white house staff to get the team cleared or the policy cleared. i could go directly to the president. as soon as i had that permission, i called david kearns and asked him if he would be willing to be the deputy secretary of education in the united states department of education. i knew that would be hard to persuade him to do. he was at the peak of his

0:52:38 to 0:52:59( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: career. he just retired as one of america's best known business leaders. his friends said why in the world would you go into the government and subject yourself to all that abuse and take a secondary position in a minor department? i asked president bush to recruit him, and he did, appealing to his patriotism.

0:53:00 to 0:53:21( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: they both served in world war ii. david had such a passion for education that he came on board, and it was terrific that he did. it was a privilege to work with such an accomplished executive. employees in the department of education loved having him around. having him there helped recruit a distinguished team of leaders to the department. and we put together what we

0:53:22 to 0:53:42( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: thought over two years was a pretty impressive program working with president bush. some of the ideas sound very familiar today especially the former governors. one idea was break the mold schools. today we call them charter schools or start from scratch schools. the thought was to have one in each congressional district, 535

0:53:43 to 0:54:04( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: of them funded by $1 million of seed money from the government. federal government. to support those schools, we created a new american schools development corporation, and with david's leadership raised $70 million in private capital for that. that attracted hundreds of design teams from around the country with ideas for how to

0:54:05 to 0:54:25( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: create better schools. president bush hosted a number of america's business leaders in camp david to help make that happen. we worked with diane ravage to create an effort to complement standards fortunate education goals president bush helped to set in 1987 with the nation's governors. these were the goals for math,

0:54:26 to 0:54:46( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: science, english, history and geography and we took important steps toward that. today the common standards that states are adopting boast some of their beginnings to those efforts. we established commissions to look at extending the school day. we pushed for technology in the schools. and the president proposed in

0:54:47 to 0:55:07( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: 1992 a g.i. bill for kids which would give scholarships to poor kids so they could choose any school, public or private, or religious, so they could have more of the same choices of good schools that kids with money had. by the time we left in 1993, every state in america had their own version of america 2000.

0:55:08 to 0:55:30( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: it was tennessee 2000 or new hampshire 2000 or kansas 2000. moving toward the educational goals community by community. none of that would have happened without david kearns' enthusiasm, skill and leadership. in 1992 during a riot over

0:55:31 to 0:55:51( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: rodney king in los angeles, president bush sent david to represent him. david had a strong background in civil rights. while he was there, he telephoned me and said this is the hardest phone call i've ever had to make. i have cancer. he just discovered he had cancer of the sinus. he came back and had an operation.

0:55:52 to 0:56:12( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: the operation gradually destroyed his eyesight. that was 20 years ago, but it didn't stop david kearns. during that time he created a center for leadership at the university of rochester where he graduated and served as trustee for many years. to help him get around because he couldn't see, barely see, ep invited a young man each year to

0:56:13 to 0:56:33( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: go with him to help him see and help him do what he needed to do. for those young men, nearly 20 over the last 20 years, that has been a remarkable opportunity to be in the presence of one of america's great mentors and early stage in their hraoeufplts everyone who -- lives. everyone who knew david kearns

0:56:34 to 0:56:55( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: admired him and loved him. a few days ago i spoke with shirley kearns, david's wife of 50 kwraoerbgs and reminded her of what she already knows, how much david's friendship means to me. i will be thinking of them today and tomorrow in rochester, will be thinking about shirley, their

0:56:56 to 0:57:16( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: four daughters, two sons and 18 grandchildren. for me, one story sums of tkaeupd david's life better than others. i think back to when i was in utah. i was trying to persuade republicans i was their natural nominee for president of the united states. i was enthusiastic about that but not successful.

0:57:17 to 0:57:38( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: i made to a republican group what i thought was an especially good speech. during the speech, i talked about my work in the united states department of education and i talked about david kearns, about his leadership, about how he helped do all the things i just mentioned. after the speech an enthusiastic republican lady came up to me and said that was a wonderful speech.

0:57:39 to 0:58:02( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: thank you very much, i said. now i know who should be president, she said. well, thank you, i said. she smiled and said david kearns. that was the opinion that she and i and almost everyone who met had of david kearns, whose 80 years in this country have been very special.