[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 16, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E247-E248]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             FULL-YEAR CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2011

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. SILVESTRE REYES

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 15, 2011

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1) making 
     appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other 
     departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2011, and for other purposes:

  Mr. REYES. Mr. Chair, I rise in strong support for the amendment to 
H.R. 1 to restore funding for the Pell Grant and stand in firm 
opposition to the underlying bill.
  The Pell Grant is extremely vital to help economically disadvantaged 
students pay for higher education. In fact, over 55,000 students in my 
congressional district use the Pell Grant to pay for their higher 
education costs.
  I am highly disappointed that after years of hard work by previous 
Congresses to increase the maximum Pell Grant award to $5,500, the 
Republican Continuing Resolution today would cut Pell Grant resources 
by $5.6 billion reducing the maximum Pell Grant award by $845. Indeed, 
this cut would translate into a loss of tens of millions of dollars in 
financial aid for students in my congressional district alone.
  As Congress looks to enact the full year Continuing Resolution for 
fiscal year 2011, H.R. 1, I urge my colleagues to oppose amendments 
that seek to cut critical education funding and severely impact the 
future of our students, communities, and nation. While cutting the 
deficit is important, doing so at the expense of special education 
grants for local school districts, Head Start for children, and Pell 
Grants to underserved college students, among other educational 
initiatives, is the wrong approach and unacceptable.
  As it stands, H.R. 1 would not only make it more difficult for 
college students to afford a higher education, but it also would make 
it difficult for K-12 schools to provide beneficial services like after 
school tutoring, or much needed literacy, math and science supplemental 
education. In fact, as written, H.R. 1 will cut:
  Head Start by over $1 billion, leaving an estimated 127,000 poor 
children without access to early childhood education, health, and 
social services and the potential loss of over 14,000 jobs;
  ESEA Title IA funding by $693 million, eliminating critical resources 
that help schools assist educationally underserved children in high-
poverty schools and by some estimates would reduce or eliminate 
services for 957,000 high-risk children and result in the loss of over 
9,000 education jobs;
  Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA, state grants by 
$557 million, leaving already struggling states and school districts 
with fewer resources to meet the needs of over 324,000 students with 
disabilities and resulting in the loss of another 7,000 education jobs;

[[Page E248]]

  Job Corps by $300 million and eliminate any advance funding 
appropriated in FY 2010 for use in FY 2011, resulting in a $900 million 
cut to the program. These cuts will force the closure of 75 out of 124 
Job Corps centers, the loss of over 21,000 jobs, and leave 36,000 at-
risk-youth without the mentoring and educational services of Job Corps, 
and;
  Hispanic Serving Institutions by $100 million, leaving many 
outstanding universities without the needed funds to educate and 
prepare the fastest growing demographic group in the country.
  Every child deserves a quality education. H.R. 1 threatens America's 
progress and vision to remain competitive in the global arena. While 
the deficit should be a top priority, I urge my colleagues to ensure 
that this bill provides schools and universities the necessary 
resources to prepare our students for the future.

                          ____________________