Senator Chet Brooks discusses his support for bilingual education, citing his personal observations of Mexican American children having to drop out of school due to language barriers. Of the opinion that bilingual education is important in early education and can have a major impact on a person later in life, Brooks decided to sponsor a bilingual education act in the Senate in 1973. Brooks admits that although the TEA was supportive of bilingual education at the time, it was perceived as not their highest priority. Brooks also discusses the differences between his senate bill and a similar house bill on bilingual education, explaining that the senate bill had mandatory regulations, while the house bill had permissive ones. Brooks justifies the need for mandatory regulations, citing that the TEA would not enforce a permissive bill. Brooks additionally discusses the obstacles faced by the bilingual education bills, such as threats from the calendars committee chairman and arguments against funding