Providing for Consideration of H.R. Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Agriculture, Rural Development, Energy and Water Development, Financial Services and General Government, Interior, Environment, Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, and for Other Purposes

Floor Speech

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Ms. ROSS. Madam Speaker, I rise in favor of the rule and to highlight two amendments that I am offering to the minibus.

In my home State of North Carolina, we lead the East Coast in offshore wind energy generation potential, and our manufacturing workforce stands ready to support offshore wind projects up and down the Atlantic coastline.

Unfortunately, former President Trump issued a 10-year moratorium on offshore wind leasing off our coast that is set to take effect in 2022. This ill-conceived moratorium puts our State's ability to develop this resource and capture its economic and environmental benefits at risk.

I am proud to offer an amendment to this bill, which would prohibit the use of funds to implement the offshore wind component of this moratorium while leaving the moratorium on offshore oil and gas leasing in place.

This amendment, and a similar bill I introduced with Congressman Tonko, are essential in order to meet our State and national climate goals.

My second amendment highlights the obstacles faced by pregnant and parenting students. Today, nearly 22 percent of undergraduate students are parents. Pregnant and parenting students face significant barriers in education, from difficulty accessing college, to insufficient childcare, to lack of holistic supports.

As a result, pregnant and parenting students experience disproportionately low graduation rates as well as a median debt that is nearly 2\1/2\ times higher than that of students without children. Pregnant and parenting high school students too frequently find themselves pushed out of school entirely.

My amendment instructs the Institute of Education Sciences to conduct a study on the obstacles pregnant and parenting students face in the pursuit of education and provides recommendations for improving educational outcomes, including graduation rates for these students.

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Ms. ROSS. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the rule, my amendments, and the underlying bill.

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