Remarks Following a Meeting With Members of Congress on the Fifth Anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act

Laura and I want to thank Senator Kennedy and Congressman George Miller and Congressman McKeon and Senator Enzi for joining us as we celebrate the fifth anniversary of No Child Left Behind and discuss our strategy to reauthorize this important piece of legislation.

I want to thank the Members for joining us. I am proud of this piece of legislation. I think it's made an enormous difference, particularly in the lives of some of our poorer students. This country needs to get it right when it comes to public education, and the bill that I was honored to sign is an important first step toward making sure every child gets a good education in America.

And in our discussions today, we've all agreed to work together to address some of the major concerns that some people have on this piece of legislation, without weakening the essence of the bill, and get a piece of legislation done. And we showed in the past that we can work together to get positive results, and I'm confident we can do so again.

Again, I appreciate the wisdom and the vision of the Members who are here. I thank you for your steadfast and strong support for our public schools and the children in our public schools, and I'm looking forward to working with you to reauthorize No Child Left Behind.

Thank you all very much.