[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 23, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H4592]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       NATIONAL FOSTER CARE MONTH

  (Ms. BASS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, May marks National Foster Care Month, a time 
for our country to come together to acknowledge the half million people 
in our child welfare system.
  No one knows the child welfare system like the foster youth who have 
grown up in the system, and no one can raise their voices like foster 
youth voices.
  Today, the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth and the National 
Foster Youth Institute have brought together more than 100 young people 
from every corner of the country here, to Washington, D.C., to shadow 
their Members of Congress.
  The young people here today have traveled thousands of miles to share 
their stories, their challenges with abuse, trafficking, 
overmedication, or homelessness, but in addition, to share their 
successes with education accomplishments, mentorship, adoption, family 
unification, and community activism.
  With me here today, from Los Angeles, is Megan Simon. She is 24 years 
old, and she was placed in foster care when she was only 1 year old. 
She was raised by her grandparents, and she has two other siblings who 
were involved in the system. She is actively involved in the National 
Foster Youth Institute Leadership Corps, where she attends meetings 
every Thursday night. She is an advocate and someone who wants to use 
her pain and her experience to make changes in the child welfare 
system.
  She is a student at Los Angeles Trade Tech College, and she says that 
she is a leader, she is a survivor, and she is a winner, not because 
she wins every battle, but because she never stops fighting.
  Mr. Speaker, too often the government--us--forgets our children. I 
hope that today's Shadow Day continues our fight to reverse that 
course.

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