[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 152 (Wednesday, September 12, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H8110]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   IDEA PARITY FOR OUTLYING AREAS ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Guam (Ms. Bordallo) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, today I introduce the IDEA Parity for 
Outlying Areas Act, which would amend the Individuals with Disabilities 
Education Act to better support students with disabilities in our 
smaller U.S. territories and the Freely Associated States.
  During my final congressional address to my constituents in Guam, I 
pledged to sponsor this important legislation for our youngsters and 
students with disabilities, as well as their families.
  I want to give special recognition to Ms. Nadia Pablo, who interned 
in my office this past summer, for her work in developing this 
legislation with my staff. Ms. Pablo currently attends Virginia 
Commonwealth University, where she is studying to become an 
occupational therapist and pursue a rewarding career working with 
people with disabilities.
  The IDEA Parity for Outlying Areas Act would ensure that American 
Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, 
classified as outlying areas by the U.S. Department of Education, 
receive their fair share of Federal funding to serve students with 
disabilities and their families.
  The intent of Congress, outlined in current Federal law, is that the 
U.S. Department of Education set aside a fixed percentage of available 
Federal funding each year for the four outlying U.S. territories and 
the three Freely Associated States in the Pacific.
  However, the U.S. Department of Education frequently allocates far 
less than the 1 percent reserved for the outlying areas under current 
law. So, to fix this, my bill would require the U.S. Department of 
Education to reserve the full 1 percent of available IDEA funding each 
year for the outlying areas, as Congress always intended.
  This will ensure that special education in American Samoa, Guam, the 
Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands gets full Federal 
funding.
  It will also ensure that the U.S. Department of Education provides 
adequate support for special education in the Federated States of 
Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of 
Palau consistent with the Compacts of Free Association between the U.S. 
and those allied countries.
  There are some 7,177 students with disabilities in the outlying U.S. 
territories and the Freely Associated States, all of whom would benefit 
under this bill. According to the most recent figures, Guam recorded 
more than 2,020 students with disabilities, including 171 preschoolers 
with disabilities.
  Our territorial Departments of Education are chronically underfunded, 
and many developmental and learning disabilities simply go undiagnosed. 
So we desperately need Federal support under the IDEA.
  Instantly, and importantly, my bill would also make Guam and the 
other outlying U.S. territories eligible to receive IDEA funding for 
preschoolers, children ages 3 to 5, with disabilities. Under current 
law, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. 
Virgin Islands are not eligible to receive U.S. Department of Education 
funding for preschoolers with disabilities.
  Finally, my bill removes a number of antiquated and unnecessary 
restrictions in current law to allow the U.S. Department of Education 
to exercise the same flexibility in awarding IDEA funding to the 
territories as the Department may do so under other programs.
  As a daughter of a schoolteacher, with many members in my family as 
part of education, and someone involved in special education on Guam 
over many, many years, the education of our island's youngsters with 
disabilities is very close to my heart. Students with disabilities in 
the territories deserve nothing less than the full support of their 
Federal Government, and that is exactly what my bill would provide.
  While I will be leaving Congress at the end of this year, I am 
confident that my colleagues from the other territories will take on my 
IDEA Parity for Outlying Areas Act in the next Congress, and I look 
forward to supporting them in that important work in any way that I 
can.

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