21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. CUELLAR. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this important amendment to help school districts hit by the economic down turn or by natural disasters so they can recover faster.
To paraphrase the gentleman from California, Chairman Miller, school construction is the economic stimulus for struggling communities. It achieves two key objectives: creating jobs and laying out the educational foundation for future prosperity.
As the chairman of the Emergency Communications, Preparedness, and Response Subcommittee of Homeland Security, I have seen firsthand how challenging it is to rebuild a school after a disaster, a problem that is only magnified in those difficult economic times. As communities pick up the pieces after a disaster, many students are left with damaged schools or no place to learn, leading them to fall farther and farther behind.
We cannot erase the pain and suffering, but one of the things we can do with this particular amendment that we are all cosponsoring is that we provide American students a decent place to learn.
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