Fy 2026 Education Cuts

Floor Speech

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Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, students across the country have started to head back to school this week.

For many, school is so much more than just a place for learning. For 13 million food insecure children, it is a place where they can rely on having a meal twice a day.

Yes, even six decades after Michael Harrington published the great book, ``The Other America,'' which became a blueprint to fight poverty and hunger in America and was published by Michael Harrington during the Kennedy administration, hunger still exists in America.

School is also a place that provides after-school programming that keeps students engaged and off the streets. It is a place where students are able to receive medical care during and through school- based health clinics so that if a student gets an asthma attack those first critical minutes will be attended to at a school-based clinic. Schools are so much more than just a place for learning.

Unfortunately, Republicans have introduced a Labor-HHS and Education bill that will cut the Department of Education funding by $66.7 billion.

These cuts will be devastating to the academic achievement of kids and students across the country. Republicans want to have it both ways. They want to eliminate title III English acquisition grants for English language learners. While the rest of the world is pushing to have their children and their students master and be proficient in more than one language so they can be competitive across the planet, these cuts are being implemented. They want English to be the only language, an English-only country, making it less competitive than other countries that want their children to be proficient in several languages.

They want to lower crime, but they are cutting vital funding like the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers which provide after-school funding that keeps kids off the streets and out of trouble.

While the National Guard is being deployed right here in D.C., they are cutting these programs that will help young people stay off the corner. They want America to have a stronger economy with the most advanced workforce, but they are cutting title I funding that helps all kids, especially ones who come from low-income backgrounds, have the best chance for success.

Student academic achievement is the cornerstone of national security, but fewer than one-third of our students nationwide can read at an appropriate grade level.

These academic achievement gaps will only be exacerbated as Republicans and the Trump administration continue their campaign against the immigrant community as parents are afraid they will drop their kids in school and never see them again.

We must continue to invest in education and educational programs that will help all students get back on track. We must bring back the investment and pride that at one point made America the envy of the world and the American public school system the great equalizer for kids all across the country.

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