Job Corps Cuts

Floor Speech

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Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, we know that the Trump administration just cut a 60-year program called Job Corps that provided young people with stable housing and career training.

This is why I joined several of my Michigan colleagues in a letter to the Trump administration, demanding that they reverse this reckless decision to abruptly shut down Job Corps centers across the Nation.

This action is yet another example of the cruel actions taken to dismantle programs for our families. Many of them depend on this. They are lifelines for our families.

Mr. Speaker, in Michigan alone, Job Corps has three centers with more than 700 students in Flint and Grand Rapids, including 200 young people in the city of Detroit.

Everyone deserves the ability to shape their own future with access to career training and hands-on experience. The sense of stability and direction Job Corps provides for our youth is invaluable.

Now, the sudden closing of these centers has left students devastated. I wish my colleagues would see the images of the young people dragging their black trash bags through the parking lot with nowhere to go.

It is heartbreaking for these students, who have worked so hard to join the workforce, to have the rug pulled out right from underneath them with only hours of notice. It is disgraceful that our government would turn its back on them like this.

There is one young person in my district in the city of Detroit whose mother has cancer. She is trying to seek treatment and trying to live. Her son depends on Job Corps for housing and for future career opportunities.

Yet again, here we are, cutting these vital programs that many people across the country support, no matter political affiliation.

I want them to know that they deserve better and that not all of us in this Chamber will turn our backs on them. We are going to fight together to restore the funding. I will continue to call out these inhumane and lawless actions.

It is very important for the American people to know this Congress and this Chamber authorized the funding for Job Corps. The President of the United States does not have the authority to snap his fingers and cut the funding.

The American people must continue to speak up about the impact of having Job Corps cut. Again, we are going to work together to try to restore it. Head Start

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Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, last week was the 60th birthday of Head Start, which is a lifeline and a life-changing experience for many of our families and has anchors all across the country and communities. It has helped our young children for decades.

I do want to bring a story from my district. Alex, a public school speech therapist in Dearborn Heights, said that several of her students are directly impacted by threats to Head Start funding. Students attending Head Start are entitled to receive necessary special education services.

As a parent of a 2-year-old daughter, she also knows that there are opportunities for her to start her education in the welcoming community that Head Start provides.

This year alone, nearly 750,000 infants, toddlers, and preschoolers will receive Head Start services, supporting early childhood learning, development, and health. These centers rely on us to make sure we keep that Federal funding to provide the care for our children.

Again, I know earlier this year we were all thrown into a panic when the Trump administration recklessly decided to cut off the Federal funding. I led 23 of my colleagues with the Congressional Mamas Caucus in a letter to President Trump. We demanded he take immediate action to restore the Head Start funding, many of them, again, months and weeks without receiving funding.

Our fight isn't over, though. Head Start is essential to countless communities in every State and every corner of our Nation. The threat to Head Start is real. Colleagues must work together to try to protect it.

As the chair of Congressional Mamas Caucus, I will continue to lead efforts in Congress to defend these critical programs for generations to come. Discriminatory Auto Insurance Rates

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Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, I don't know about you, but I have no idea that someone's income, occupation, education, ZIP Code, marital status, credit score, or homeownership status have anything to do with somebody's auto insurance rates or whether or not they are a good driver. It has absolutely nothing to do with it. Yet, we are allowing in this country for the auto insurance industry to use nondriving factors to discriminate and to allow predatory practices to determine auto insurance rates.

In my district alone, I have seen many families with auto insurance, which is required by law, see their rates go up almost 40 percent, keeping them in the cycle of poverty and keeping them in survival mode when they should be able to drive.

Auto insurance rates should be based on how good a person's driving record is, period. It is outrageous that many continue to allow these discriminatory practices to be applied.

Please support the PAID Act. It is good legislation to continue to protect our residents and make sure they get insurance that they can afford.

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