Cbc Supports Investing in Infrastructure

Floor Speech

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Ms. ADAMS. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Beatty for yielding. I thank Representative Torres for his leadership and thank Chairwoman Beatty for being such a phenomenal leader and a role model for all of us.

I am pleased to be here tonight to support the Congressional Black Caucus members, known as the conscious of the Congress, not only because of what we believe, but because we show up on days like this.

I rise tonight to talk about an essential infrastructure investment, an investment in our historically Black colleges and universities.

Earlier this year, the bipartisan leadership of the HBCU Caucus, Representative French Hill from Arkansas, Senator Chris Coons from Delaware, and Tim Scott from South Carolina, as well as our vice chairs, Representative Terri Sewell and Mike Turner, came together to introduce the bipartisan IGNITE HBCU Excellence Act.

We introduced this legislation to help light a fire for our schools. The IGNITE HBCU Excellence Act represents a historic investment in both the physical and the digital infrastructure of our historically Black colleges.

Our Nation's HBCUs deserve a level of investment and engagement reflective of their multibillion dollar impact on our Nation's economy and their collective impact on the minds of millions of our Nation's future leaders.

We have bipartisan agreement on that. Don't just take it from me. In the words of Senator Tim Scott, ``HBCUs have educated and produced top- notch graduates in every field--all while operating on minimal budgets. I can only imagine what more they will accomplish with proper funding.''

Our Nation's low-income, first-generation college students deserve that opportunity, and to ensure that that happens, the schools that they attend must be made whole. There are more than 102 across this Nation. I had the privilege of serving for 40 years on the campus of Bennett College in Greensboro, and I am a graduate twice of North Carolina A&T State University, and Johnson C. Smith University is in my district.

Finally, as we have a national debate about infrastructure in Congress and across the country, I want to make one thing clear, that the IGNITE HBCU Excellence Act is not only an infrastructure bill, it is also a jobs bill. And this bill creates jobs and enables HBCUs to continue to be a critical source of diversity in the workforce. This bill has the potential to create over half a million jobs while investing in critical HBCU infrastructure.

Historically Black colleges and universities are essential infrastructure for the next generation of students, workers, innovators, athletes, creators, thinkers, and leaders, and that is why we need to pass the most transformative legislation for historically Black colleges and universities in history. You have got to rectify over 150 years of neglect, broken promises, and institutional racism.

Any infrastructure package that leaves this House must include a historic investment in our HBCUs. I am not going to rest until we remove all of the barriers to their success and the success of our HBCU students.

So I ask my colleagues to please join me in our bipartisan list of over 70 cosponsors in the House and Senate in supporting the IGNITE HBCU Excellence Act. Our power. Our message.

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