Schools Not Shelters Act
Floor Speech
Mr. Speaker, I speak in opposition to H.R. 3941, the scapegoating not solutions act. It is frustrating that we are taking up another proposal that, among other things, purports to improve school safety, yet does nothing to address school safety, does nothing to address learning loss, does nothing to address gun violence in the schools or improve students' mental health.
Regrettably, so far this Congress, House Republicans' priorities for K-12 education focused entirely on culture wars.
First, they passed legislation that would facilitate the banning of books. Then the House advanced a bill to seek to bar trans students from participating in sports activities.
House Republicans are currently working on a budget that makes devastating cuts to Federal support of education.
Now the House is considering yet another proposal to threaten to strip away funding from schools and institutions of higher learning if they use any of their facilities to temporarily house asylum seekers or undocumented immigrants in an emergency other than those caused by a disaster.
The message is clear: If you do not support this extreme agenda, congressional Republicans will pull your support for education.
Republicans have also falsely implied that temporarily using school facilities to provide shelter diverts educational resources from students already impacted by learning loss, and yet, they present no evidence to support this claim.
We can't meaningfully address learning loss or meet students' mental health needs if we are talking about taking away Federal funds from schools and institutions of higher learning that are not aligned with the Republicans' extreme agenda.
Republicans also claim that this bill is about school safety. Let's remember that this bill prohibits emergency sheltering of undocumented immigrants except due to disasters.
If it is not a disaster, and it is an emergency, you can't house the immigrants. If it is not an emergency, there is no prohibition. You can house the undocumented immigrants all year just so long as it is not an emergency. If it is a disaster, there is no prohibition.
You can also house other people. If it is school safety, how about housing defendants awaiting trial in pretrial detention or those on work release? How about housing them? No prohibition against that.
This isn't about school safety. We can't talk about protecting school safety without addressing gun violence. The reality is that Republicans have done nothing about gun violence in schools, which we know causes the greatest threat to our children's safety.
We have repeatedly said that any conversation about school safety that doesn't meaningfully address gun violence is not a serious conversation.
H.R. 3941 does not address the real issues confronting our students today, and that is ending gun violence and helping students address learning loss and threatens to take funds away from schools and institutions of higher learning.
I, therefore, urge my colleagues to oppose the bill and reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Bonamici).
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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, prior to yielding to the gentleman from New York, I yield myself 1 minute to remind the gentleman about what his bill actually does. It does not prohibit the sheltering of anyone other than undocumented immigrants in an emergency short term. I mean, long term and not in an emergency, that is okay. Other people, that is okay.
Mr. GOLDMAN of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 3941, which is an inhumane, xenophobic messaging bill that seeks to punish the local governments that are welcoming and supporting migrants arriving from collapsing authoritarian governments to pursue their American Dream.
I come from New York City, which has embraced, housed, fed, vaccinated, and supported more than 80,000 migrants in the past year in the finest traditions of the home of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, where my grandmother arrived in this country.
We in New York City are incredibly proud of being what my distinguished colleague from New York refers to as a sanctuary city. I wish all of America could be a sanctuary country in the finest traditions of welcoming immigrants to our shores.
In the past year, there has not been a single violent incident at any of the nearly 200 shelters housing newly arrived migrants in New York City--not one. You tell me another community of 80,000 people where there is not a single violent incident. I challenge everyone.
It is a remarkable feat, and it demonstrates these individuals' desires, basic desires, to come and settle in this country and escape regimes that are cratering in Central and Latin America.
Despite the excessive burdens on the city's infrastructure and budget, many of the counties represented by the Republican sponsors of this bill have refused to accept migrants, and now they are trying to make it even harder to temporarily house migrants around the State in places that are empty for the summer.
This is simply another attempt by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to demonize immigrants seeking a better life in this country, a continuation of the effort to sow fear, division, and hate around the country.
My colleague from New York is right. We are in desperate need of immigration reform so that we can streamline and modernize our immigration system, boost our economy, and secure our borders. However, instead of using their majority to address our broken immigration system, Republicans are putting forward a meaningless and useless bill designed to scapegoat immigrants instead of solving our problems.
If my colleagues on the other side of the aisle truly wanted to address the influx of migrants into our communities, they would work with us to alleviate the financial strain on cities all around the country. They would come together with us to allow these migrants to work legally, which would not only allow them to support their families but would help businesses in desperate need of labor from a workforce shortage, would boost our economy, and, of course, would have the benefit of helping our local governments.
Mr. GOLDMAN of New York. Mr. Speaker, this bill is not about protecting schools or children. It is the summertime, and the schools are mostly empty. If Republicans truly wanted to protect our schools and our children, they would instead focus on cracking down on rampant gun violence in our schools.
Just this year, there have been 20 school shootings, and gun violence is now the leading cause of death of children in America. Parents are not worried about migrants in schools during the summer. Parents are worried that their children won't come home from school. Republicans, instead, do nothing to keep our children safe at school.
Mr. Speaker, you can put lipstick on a pig, but dressing up your anti-immigrant xenophobia by invoking our schools does not change the fact that this bill is, in fact, covered by mud. I urge my colleagues to vote against this harmful bill.
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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a statement from Third Way urging Members to stand up for students across the country and vote ``no'' on this bill. [From Third Way, July 18, 2023] Third Way Statement on the Schools Not Shelters Act (By Lanae Erickson)
Washington.--Third Way released the following statement from Lanae Erickson, Senior Vice President for Social Policy, Education, & Politics:
``House Republicans have found another target for their 'defund' campaign: schools. The Schools Not Shelters Act would pull federal funding from any school that provides undocumented immigrants with shelter, even temporarily. By bringing this bill to the House floor, majority is yet again signaling that their priority is to put politics over the welfare of our country's students.
``During a time when teachers and students are working tirelessly to overcome learning loss from the pandemic, Republicans are threatening to defund schools to protest something that has nothing to do with students' quality of education. What's worse, schools in the poorest communities across the country are the targets of this political stunt. If Republicans really cared about students, they'd work with Democrats to invest in our nation's schools and improve educational outcomes. Instead, they're focusing on banning books, banning history, and banning migrants. Teachers and students have much bigger things to worry about.
``Republicans have backed out of every major bipartisan immigration reform deal this century, leaving the system outdated and overwhelmed. And now they're punishing American students for the consequences of their inaction.
``We urge all Members to stand up for students across this country and vote `no' on this bill.''
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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record another letter from Council of the Great City Schools pointing out that the bill does nothing to help urban school districts and communities provide the needed educational and transitional services for newly arriving students and families. Council of the Great City Schools, June 12, 2023. Hon. Virginia Foxx, Chairwoman, Committee on Education and Workforce, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Hon. Bobby Scott, Ranking Member, Committee on Education and Workforce, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Chairwoman Foxx and Ranking Member Scott: For more than a century, urban schools have taken in children and families from other countries who came to the United States seeking a better life and who eventually served as the backbone of the country. The nation's Great City Schools seek to not only meet our legal obligations to provide educational services to whomever comes through our doors but to do everything we can in partnership with our local communities to make sure that newly arriving students and families are welcomed and prepared to give back to the country.
In recent years, the nation's urban public schools have opened their doors to families from Afghanistan, Ukraine, Cuba, Haiti, Guatemala, Vietnam, Sudan, and many other countries as they were seeking refuge, freedom, and a better tomorrow. In addition to providing newcomer aid, instruction, and social services to students, the Great City Schools are helping families find housing, coordinating community services, and providing much of their initial social contacts, translations, and food services. They have also provided cultural orientations, language lessons, and other assistance for refugee families upon their arrival. The Council has examples from school districts across the country--including Anchorage, Sacramento, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Tulsa, Charlotte, and countless other cities--that are working with their local agencies, faith-based leaders, charities, and financial institutions to welcome new arrivals, align and coordinate services, and create a seamless transition into the public schools and the community.
Unfortunately, the Schools Not Shelters Act (H.R. 3941) before the committee does nothing to help urban school districts and communities provide the needed educational and transitional services for newly arriving students and families. After decades of inaction, we urge Congress to focus on bipartisan and comprehensive solutions to address immigration reform rather than threatening federal funding or intervening in local decision-making regarding housing for those who need it. Sincerely, Raymond Hart, Executive Director.
Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that my Republican colleagues are forcing through another proposal that contradicts our responsibility to help students succeed.
This bill threatens to take funding away from schools if they are used for emergency shelter to shelter undocumented immigrants, except specifically exempting cases of disaster. It allows anyone else to be sheltered, just not undocumented immigrants in an emergency.
We should be focusing on helping students make up for learning loss. They were out of school for a long time. Last Congress, congressional Democrats took critical steps to actually address learning loss by passing the American Rescue Plan Act, investing in students' abilities to offer after-school and summer mentorship and tutorial programs, yet not a single congressional Republican voted to pass the American Rescue Plan Act.
Now, they are seeking to pass a bill that takes funding away from public schools while also considering a budget that makes dangerous cuts to Federal educational funding.
If my colleagues want to address learning loss, we should be talking about evidence-based strategies that actually meet the needs of students.
If my colleagues want to keep students safe, we should be confronting what is actually killing them. Parents, teachers, and students are demanding that we take meaningful action on gun violence. Yet, my Republican colleagues refuse to budge on that issue.
Instead of coming up with meaningful solutions, Republicans are continuing to push their extreme agenda that does nothing to address learning loss or improve school safety.
We should all agree that our students, parents, and schools deserve better.
Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to oppose this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
Mr. Speaker, it is hard to respond to the amendment because the underlying bill makes little sense. I am not sure what the amendment does because if the amendment is passed, undocumented immigrants would be properly sheltered in the schools because there is an exemption for disasters. After 72 hours, 3 days if the disaster is still going on, I guess you would have to kick them out to avoid liability, unless the emergency is over. If there is no longer an emergency and they are not being housed under an emergency, they can't be housed because only emergency sheltering is allowed.
I don't know if this is good or bad, but I just oppose it, and I yield back the balance of my time
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