Strength in Diversity Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Fudge) for yielding and for her incredible leadership on this issue.

It has been 66 years since the Brown v. Board of Education decision when this country took a step toward making amends for its legacy of oppression and discrimination against African Americans. But policymakers haven't always done the work necessary to make the promises of Brown a reality.

After years of gains, the last three decades have been marked by increased racial isolation for Black and Brown students.

Since 1988, the percentage of schools where less than 10 percent of the student body is White has increased from 6 to 18 percent. More than half of our Nation's schoolchildren are in districts where over 75 percent of students look just like them.

So, I am happy that today, after 30 years of backsliding, the House will take a vote to live up to the legacy of Brown.

The Strength in Diversity Act is as good as its name. It will restore the government's commitment to school desegregation and to ensuring that every child receives equal opportunity because as Brown told us, separate is inherently unequal.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to help this Nation live up to those ideals by voting in support of the Strength in Diversity Act. I thank my colleague from Ohio for bringing this bill forward.

Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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