{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=6adf1021-7809-4c63-93c6-8c4c7645a6ab", "Passage of Education Reform Another Example of Congress Back to Work Under Republican Leadership", "2015-12-10", "2015", "2015-12", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor today regarding bipartisan accomplishments in the 114th Congress:\r\nWhat a difference a new Senate can make.\nSome may have thought Washington would never agree on a replacement for No Child Left Behind. Years of inaction on the Senate floor gave ample cause for doubt. Some may have been skeptical when a new Senate with a new approach resolved to finally solve the problem too.\nBut no longer.\nYesterday, the new Senate voted overwhelmingly to deliver the most significant K-12 education reform in well over a decade. The President will sign the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act later this morning.\r\nHeres what this bipartisan law will do: Replace a broken law with conservative reform that will help students succeed instead of helping Washington grow. \nThat means swapping one-size-fits-all federal mandates for greater state and local flexibility.\nThat means bringing an end to the ability of faraway bureaucrats to impose Common Core.\nThat means strengthening charter schools.\nThat means putting education back in the hands of those who know students needs best: parents, teachers, states, and school boards.\nThe Every Student Succeeds Act is conservative reform passed on a bipartisan basis. The Wall Street Journal calls it the largest devolution of federal control to the states in a quarter-century. And its an important achievement for our kids and for our country.\nLet me again thank the Senators who worked together to make this possible.\nSenator Alexander, a Republican from Tennessee.\nSenator Murray, a Democrat from Washington.\nThey took advantage of the opportunities a new and more open Senate provided. They put good legislation together and then placed personal stakes in its success. They worked hard. They labored over many months. And they didnt lose sight of what a legislative exercise like this one should really be about.\r\nGood policy. Better outcomes for our country. And with the bill we passed yesterday  the bill the President will sign today  greater opportunities for every student to succeed. \nSenator Alexander was right when he said this bill is just one more example that Congress is back to work. Its worth noting a point he made the other day too.\nThis has been one of the most productive Senate years in a long time, he said. The Republican Senate majority is making a real difference, particularly [for] 100,000 public schools, [for] 3  million teachers, and [for] 50 million children.\r\nBut perhaps the American people are wondering why.\nPerhaps theyre wondering why the Senate is suddenly back to work this year.\nPerhaps theyre wondering why some issues are suddenly passing now when they werent passing previously.\nLet me turn back to the rest of what Senator Alexander said, because I think the answer for a bill like ESSA is actually quite simple.\nWe're doing it, he said, by working in a bipartisan way with our colleagues which is, I think, the way the American people want us to govern.\nHeres the idea. \nGive Senators of both parties more of a say in the process, and Senators of both parties are likely to take more of a stake in the outcome.\nThats why on this bill you saw a more open process that started way back in the committee stage. \nSenators Alexander and Murray, the top Republican and top Democrat on the education committee, understood that No Child Left Behind had to be fixed after years of inaction. So they worked together on a bipartisan basis  and the Senate passed the most significant K-12 education reform in years.\nTake another example.\nSenators Inhofe and Boxer, the top Republican and top Democrat on the public works committee, understood that crumbling roads and bridges had to be fixed after years of inaction. So they worked together on a bipartisan basis  and the Senate passed the first long-term transportation bill in a decade.\nOr how about this one.\nSenators Burr and Feinstein, the top Republican and top Democrat on the intelligence committee, understood that Americans online privacy and financial transactions deserved some protection after years of inaction. So they worked together on a bipartisan basis  and the Senate passed an important cybersecurity bill.\nAcross the new Congress, you saw several other stuck issues come unstuck too.\nA decisive end to Washingtons annual Doc Fix drama.\nAction to help knock down foreign trade barriers.\nExtending a hand of compassion to victims of modern slavery.\nAll of it passed in the new Congress, and all of it passed on a bipartisan basis.\nNow let me be clear.\nNo one is saying that all of the Senates challenges have been ironed out. Of course we know that our work is ongoing. Of course we know that there will always be bumps along the way.\r\nBut heres what we can say for sure.\nThe new Senate has taken serious steps to foster a more open atmosphere on many issues.\nThe new Senate has seen real progress made for our country, often on a bipartisan basis.\nAnd were proud of that. \nWhether were Republicans or Democrats, I think thats something we can all take pride in as Americans.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=6adf1021-7809-4c63-93c6-8c4c7645a6ab"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4987171161919832, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}