Formatting necessary for an accurate reading of this text may be shown by tags (e.g., <DELETED> or <BOLD>) or may be missing from this TXT display. For complete and accurate display of this text, see the PDF.
[Page H2990]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PUBLIC EDUCATION
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from
Michigan (Ms. Stevens) for 5 minutes.
Ms. STEVENS. Mr. Speaker, what an honor it is to be on this House
floor with you here today in representation of the 700,000 constituents
I serve from Michigan's 11th District. We are here for the activity of
this House floor. We are here for the grand deliberation of our
democracy and for the discourse that makes our Nation's laws.
It is clear, Mr. Speaker, that this pandemic is continuing to pose a
serious threat to our communities and to our Nation. As the global
death toll has crossed 500,000 this week alone, the World Health
Organization has warned that the worst is yet to come. The suffering
and loss of life that we have already endured in Michigan and
throughout this Nation is unfathomable.
We must recommit to saving lives by listening to the guidance of the
public health experts who are telling us to wear a mask and to socially
distance as much as possible. We must recommit to the science that
stands before us.
As a result of this pandemic, Mr. Speaker, we must look at the battle
before us in terms of what our States are facing with budget
shortfalls. You see, Mr. Speaker, this is what we do as appropriators,
as individuals who conduct oversight and who authorize the activity and
the efforts of our Federal agencies and for the Nation's purse strings.
Without additional Federal funding for Michigan's public schools, a
typical school district in Michigan is looking at a $750-per-pupil cut
to our State's budget shortfall.
The White House recently signed an executive order saying, we are
going to look for the skills in an individual. How do you obtain the
skills if you are not in a fully funded school? When first robotics
doesn't exist, when the skills training doesn't exist, and when the
guidance counselors who are going to be there to shepherd our students
through this trauma they endured cannot do their jobs?
When we are cutting, cutting, cutting. And then we say: Guess what?
The Federal taxpayer dollars that you pay and the State taxpayer
dollars that you pay are not enough.
Who pays again?
Who pays again?
It is the middle class. It is the individual.
Mr. Speaker, I am tired of it. I am tired of the tax cuts for the
wealthiest corporations at the expense of our middle class. I am here
to deliver for my constituents. I am here to give them a return on
their investment that they make every year. They are looking at us.
In fact, Mr. Speaker, this is something that this House majority has
already done in the HEROES Act. We have already taken these steps to
address these budget shortfalls. We are here today to vote on an
infrastructure bill to rebuild America's schools, to put people back to
work, and to stand for the best this Nation has to offer.
I did this work in the halls of government on the other side of
Pennsylvania Avenue during another time of crisis, during another time
of choppy waters, and I am a believer in these institutions, Mr.
Speaker. I saw what happens when Democrats and Republicans come
together for the best outcomes, when we rescued the auto industry and
millions of auto worker jobs, saying, we will not let you fail, picking
up from where the Bush administration left off and where the Obama
administration finished it.
We will not let you fail. That is what I say from this House floor
today on behalf of the 700,000 constituents from Michigan's 11th
District I proudly represent.
____________________