Global Learning Loss Assessment Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Meeks and Ranking Member McCaul for their leadership on this critical issue and for working with me on this bill to get it not only passed out of committee, but here on the floor for consideration on a suspension basis.

I have had a really eclectic background before joining Congress, but most recently, I was a high school chemistry teacher in north Philadelphia, and I also ran a nonprofit focused on early childhood literacy for pre-K through fourth-grade kids. So I am particularly passionate about the issue that we are talking about today.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to rise today to ask my colleagues for their support of H.R. 1500, the Global Learning Loss Assessment Act.

My bill will direct the U.S. Agency for International Development to submit a report to Congress on the impacts of COVID-19 on the Agency's basic education programs and global learning.

Investing in global education is not a humanitarian issue. It is an economic and national security issue. A more educated global population paves the way for a more stable global economy, and what is clear is that COVID-19 has caused a dramatic loss in global learning.

Our first step must be to clearly identify the scope of this loss so that we can begin the work of bridging that gap. The estimates are alarming. Ninety percent of students worldwide, meaning 1.6 billion youth, have had severe interruptions in their education due to COVID- 19. This gap has the potential to hinder global efforts on economic justice, lasting peace, poverty eradication, ending world hunger, gender equity, and so much more.

As a steadfast advocate for women and girls around the world, I am also particularly concerned about the harrowing consequences that school-aged girls face in light of school closures, including an increased likelihood of gender-based violence.

To shore up the increasing gaps in learning and to preserve massive gains the United States has made in global education rates, we have to understand the extent of damage this pandemic has caused. This bill will arm us with the data that we need to move quickly, invest effectively across our USAID programs, and make our international basic education programs more resilient to crises such as these.

We cannot afford to ignore the devastating effects that COVID-19 has had on students around our globe. Education loss will continue without intentional steps on our behalf, and so that is why I am so grateful to Speaker Pelosi, Chairman Meeks, and Mr. McCaul for placing my bipartisan Global Learning Loss Assessment Act here before the Congress for a vote today.

In particular, I want to thank and express my deep appreciation to Representative Fitzpatrick and Representative Quigley for working so closely with my office in introducing this legislation with me.

Their steadfast education to learning and students around the world is to be commended. This is an important bill, and I urge all of my colleagues to join me in this crucial effort to mitigate the drastic effects of such an educational gap and the effects it is already having.

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