Federal File: Ford's program; Damage control

After reaching a compromise on a bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, House and Senate conferees last week did what they usually do after squeezing blood out of each other. They praised their colleagues effusively.

This time was a little different, however, as it was the final conference for Rep. William D. Ford, D-Mich., the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, who is retiring at the end of this session.

In honor of Mr. Ford's 30 years in office, the conferees voted to name the Clinton Administration's new direct-loan...