OK School Funds, Clinton Urges Congress

President Clinton opened the postelection battle over the long overdue federal budget, calling Saturday for Republican leaders to stop blocking a proposed $7.9-billion increase in school funding.

Congress convenes this week for a lame-duck session that faces a daunting array of political and legislative challenges after an election that has yet to produce a president.

Clinton, in his weekly radio address, urged Republican leaders to make education funding their “first order” of business when they return to work, and he released a report warning that congressional foot-dragging could deprive U.S. states of the funds they need to modernize old schools, build new ones, reduce class size and expand after-school programs.

“It is very important that we get right back to business and fulfill our responsibility to give our children a world-class education,” he said. “A lot is at stake here--the condition of our schools, the quality of our teachers [and], most important, the education of our children.”

Republicans defended their agenda, saying education is a priority. “We’ve all talked about education. It’s time to stop talking and do something about it,” House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois told reporters at the Central Texas ranch of a fellow Republican, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, who has claimed victory in the contested Nov. 7 presidential election.

Clinton and Republicans in Congress failed before the election to finish the $1.8-trillion fiscal 2001 budget, as both sides dug in for battle over schools, immigration and worker protections. When Congress reconvenes Tuesday, the White House and Republicans will try again to complete the budget, already two months overdue.