Education Secretary Nominee Tells Senate Panel He Will Be ‘Proponent’ for Schools

William J. Bennett, President Reagan’s nominee to replace Terrel H. Bell as secretary of education, Monday defended the Administration’s efforts to reduce the federal role in education but told senators at his confirmation hearing that “you can count on me to be a vigorous proponent for the cause of education.”

Bennett, whose nomination to head the $17.9-billion department is expected to be approved easily, told members of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee that he “will fight for programs that need more money” but “will be truthful and will resist growth of programs just because they’re there.”

Under questioning from senators who expressed fear that Reagan would attempt to dismantle the department--as he had promised during the 1980 campaign--Bennett declared that he had received no indication from Administration officials that this would happen.

“I am not going in to abolish the department,” he said. “Nor was I asked to. Nor was I winked at when I was not asked to. I was asked to do a study.” Upon Bennett’s nomination to the post, Reagan asked him to conduct a study on the effectiveness of the department and its role in education.

Vote Expected Soon

The committee, which ended its hearings on the nomination after one day, is expected to vote by next week on Bennett, 41, who has been director of the National Endowment for the Humanities since 1981. If approved, the nomination then will go before the full Senate.

At Monday’s session, Bennett was pressed by several senators on reports that Reagan will ask Congress to deny guaranteed student loans to all college students from families with incomes of more than $32,500 or to limit total aid per student to $4,000. Sen. Robert T. Stafford (R-Vt.), a committee member, called these proposals “absolutely ludicrous” and said they would “meet with strong opposition from this senator.”

Bennett, asked by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) about his “visceral reaction” to these proposed cuts, admitted that they would bring “tough consequences” and make it “difficult for many people,” especially those in the middle-income levels. But, he added, “we all recognize that some limit is appropriate.”

Bennett’s record on affirmative action also came under fire from Rep. Cardiss Collins (D-Ill.), who testified before the committee. Collins criticized Bennett’s refusal last year to submit federally mandated hiring and promotion goals and timetables for women and minorities at the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Collins questioned Bennett’s commitment to programs designed to aid the economically disadvantaged, the handicapped, women and minorities after he “so willingly defied the civil rights laws and its provisions.”

Bennett defended his civil rights record, but said: “It has never been my position that ‘You are of X race, therefore you get three points; you are of Y race, therefore you get none.’ I think we should move as quickly as we can to a colorblind society. The quickest way to get there is to get there.”

In a prepared statement, Bennett said it is “entirely appropriate for the federal government to provide funds to state and local jurisdictions to address the effects of discrimination, as well as physical and financial constraints.”

Saying he would “make every effort to prevent the department from being needlessly meddlesome or intrusive,” he noted that the federal government must “assist the states in ensuring that all students, whatever their race, color, sex, physical handicap or English proficiency, have the opportunity to participate in society. In this regard, I would seek the full enforcement of all laws and regulations pertaining to the programs of the Department of Education.”