Condemning the Use of Elementary and Secondary School Facilities to Provide Shelter for Aliens Who Are Not Admitted to the United States

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to H. Res. 461.

Like clockwork, we are here, yet again, taking up another proposal that, among other things, purports to improve school safety but does nothing to address gun violence in schools or improve students' mental health.

So far this Congress, the Republican priorities for K-12 education have focused almost entirely on so-called culture wars. First, the House Republicans passed legislation to ban books. The House then advanced legislation targeting trans students.

We just debated an impeachment resolution, and now the House is considering a proposal that would encourage taking away funding from schools whose facilities are used to temporarily house refugees and immigrants.

Schools are routinely used to temporarily house people in emergencies like hurricanes or earthquakes. So now I guess they are suggesting that we check citizenship papers before we let people in.

The resolution falsely implies that temporarily using school facilities to house immigrants leads to learning loss, but there is no evidence to support that claim.

Addressing learning loss and helping students make up for lost time in the classroom is what we did last year, without a Republican vote, when we made historic investments in the American Rescue Plan to help schools make up for lost time by funding after-school, summer mentorship programs, and other initiatives to actually make up for lost time.

But we cannot continue to meaningfully address learning loss or meet students' mental health needs if all we are talking about is taking away Federal funds from schools.

Moreover, any conversation about school safety that does not meaningfully address gun violence, is not a serious conversation. This is a haphazard proposal and another distraction. Since it is a nonbinding resolution, it doesn't actually do anything the supporters of the resolution say need to be done.

It does nothing to improve immigration policy. It doesn't even stop the use of schools to house immigrants. This is a nonbinding resolution.

If my colleagues are serious about addressing learning loss, we should be talking about evidence-based strategies that meet the needs of our students. There is nothing in the resolution that addresses learning loss or mental health.

If my colleagues were serious about school safety, we should be confronting what is actually killing them. Parents, teachers, and students are demanding that we take up meaningful legislation to address gun violence. There is nothing in the resolution to address gun violence.

I strongly urge my colleagues to oppose H.R. 461.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Garcia).

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Ramirez).

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman and, of course, the chairwoman, as well, for their leadership.

Madam Speaker, just a few minutes ago, we were on the floor discussing an impeachment of the President of the United States for protecting and doing his job for the American people. I think we fail to understand that the Statue of Liberty is still in the New York Harbor--bring your forlorn and depressed--and that this is a Nation of laws and immigrants.

From the very beginning of ages, this Nation was founded by those who came from somewhere else. They crossed the waters to come. The indigenous people were here, but that was all, and certainly we know the history of slavery.

I am stunned by, first, the impeachment order, if you will, attempting to impeach for differences of positions in policies. Now I come to try and understand a misconstrued, misdirected, and really painful resolution--as the gentleman from Virginia said ``nonbinding''--and it seems that what we are doing is showing dislike and contempt for children.

I believe in children, and what is being done by local government is to find relief for children. Find relief. These schools in New York--I know them well--are large. They are old and large. They have many different sectors and segments that a city executive can utilize safely for children.

This is about children, and for those who just made profile press conference trips to the border, I have been to the border at night, in the day, in the morning over the years. I have held babies in my arms that have gotten off buses.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I have seen children wanting their parents. I have seen the Trump era of snatching children away. This is wrongheaded.

This is not dangerous to the children in the schools, and our local jurisdictions should be allowed to make determined decisions in response to what is a migrant fever, if you will.

However, let me add something that the government should be looking at, which is why the State of Texas has taken over the seventh largest school district, that all the parents, board members, teachers are against? Houston Independent School District is suffering. Is there anyone here or my friends on the other side of the aisle willing to address that ridiculous, ludicrous takeover undermining teachers' and parents' will?

I thought we were for parents. Houston Independent School District should not be taken over, and it is a consternation in our community. Because of that, I believe we are doing the wrong thing here. The underlying bill should be opposed, and we should be standing with the people of Houston who refuse to have a takeover of a very effective school district, the Houston Independent School District. Madam Speaker, let's do the right thing on the floor and support our children.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in opposition of H. Res. 461, condemning the use of elementary and secondary school facilities to provide shelter for aliens who are not admitted to the United States.

This resolution condemns using the facilities of a public elementary or secondary school that serves students to provides shelter for non- U.S. nationals who are not admitted into the United States.

As a Member on the Homeland Security committee, and more specifically the Border Security and Enforcement subcommittee, I interact with those at the border and migrants frequently.

I believe that a comprehensive approach is needed to solving the current immigration crisis.

However, I think it is essential that migrants are brought and allowed into the country through legal immigration.

I am a strong proponent of humanitarian aid efforts in the immigration context, from preventing the breakup of individual families as a result of a wrongful deportation to ensuring that victims of civil wars and national disasters around the globe receive a temporary protected status under the U.S. immigration laws.

We should not condemn the use of public elementary or secondary schools provide shelter for non-U.S. nationals who are not admitted into the United States.

I acknowledge that school are places of learning and development for students, but there are time periods when school campuses are not being used, such as during school breaks.

Because of this, the space could be used for humanitarian aid purposes, such as allowing migrants to stay there while they wait for legal processing and paperwork to conclude.

Other exceptions need to be reviewed, such as whether migrants could stay at schools when school is in-session, but humanitarian aid should not be overlooked in the immigration context.

As a leading country on the global stage, it is our duty and responsibility to assist who we can in a legal manner.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Bonamici), the ranking member of the Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, it is unfortunate that House Republican priorities for K-12 education are focused entirely on distractions. Instead of devising ways to meaningfully address learning loss or gun violence in schools, here we are, threatening to withhold Federal funds from K-12 schools that do not adhere to the extreme MAGA agenda.

The reality is that H. Res. 461 does nothing to address the real issues confronting students today. This is a nonbinding resolution, so it does nothing to fund education. It doesn't even prevent schools from being used to house undocumented immigrants.

One thing that we have to come to grips with is complaining about a problem doesn't solve the problem. Complaining about immigration policy doesn't solve the problem. Complaining about schools doesn't address any of the underlying problems. It doesn't fix anything. What this resolution is, is an opportunity to complain, but it doesn't do anything.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose the resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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