Supporting the Women's Bureau At the Department of Labor

Floor Speech

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Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to condemn in the strongest terms the attack by DOGE on the Women's Bureau at the Department of Labor, the only Federal agency representing women in the workforce.

Last week, Elon Musk's unelected, unqualified, inept team at DOGE canceled millions of dollars in grants funded through the Women's Bureau by calling them wasteful.

These terminations decimated the important work of the Women's Bureau, including programs to support survivors of gender-based violence and Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations, which has successfully expanded pathways for women to enter the workforce and lead in all industries, including the trades.

A Department of Labor spokesperson claimed that the Women's Bureau funds discriminatory DEI experiments. I would like to know why exactly they think helping women enter and succeed in the workforce is a discriminatory DEI experiment. Canceling more than $20 million in congressionally authorized funds is both illegal and unconstitutional, and we must hold DOGE and Secretary Chavez-DeRemer accountable.

Congress established the Women's Bureau 2 months before women officially gained the right to vote, 105 years ago this year. Instead of celebrating its achievements and recognizing the benefits of these grant programs, the Trump administration is trying to send us backward in time, harming millions of women in the process.

Mr. Speaker, I am not going back. I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to stand with me in support of the Women's Bureau and the crucial opportunities and protections it provides for women in the workforce. Congratulations to Lincoln High School and Sprague High School

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Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate and congratulate two high school teams on their recent cochampionship win of the We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution competition.

Run by the Center for Civic Education, this competition tests the knowledge of high school students from around the country about the U.S. Constitution and American Government. Students display understanding about historical and contemporary constitutional issues, and their breadth of knowledge is incredibly impressive.

I am proud to report that both top teams are from public high schools in Oregon. Lincoln High School and Sprague High School won the national competition in Virginia after competing at the State level and then spending 3 days here in the D.C. metro area at the finals answering tough questions with confidence, intelligence, and grace.

Both teams showed deep knowledge of constitutional law and U.S. history, and this year we saw something amazing. The average team size is 21 students, but the Sprague team had only two. Impressively, the Lincoln team was mostly sophomores, but they all worked hard and it showed. A scoring anomaly resulted in both the Sprague and Lincoln teams earning the title of cochampions for the first time in the competition's history.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Center for Civic Education for making this opportunity available. I also thank the teachers and coaches who worked with the teams and these impressive students for giving us hope for the future at a time when it is desperately needed.

Please join me in congratulating Lincoln High School and Sprague High School on their cochampionship win of We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution competition.

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