[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 36 (Thursday, February 25, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S887-S888]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    NOMINATION OF MIGUEL A. CARDONA

  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I rise today to speak in support of Dr. 
Miguel Cardona's nomination to serve as Secretary of Education and to 
urge my colleagues to confirm him to this position.
  Dr. Cardona will bring a deep understanding of the needs of students 
and teachers, a firm grasp of our educational system, and a fresh 
perspective to the Department of Education.
  Dr. Cardona was the first in his immediate family to go to college. 
He is the father of two school-aged children, and he brings to this 
role decades of experience as an educator, having served as an 
elementary school teacher, principal, and assistant superintendent.
  Throughout his career, Dr. Cardona has worked tirelessly to improve 
the lives of students. He has fought to make sure college is accessible 
for all students. As the education commissioner for the State of 
Connecticut, he was on the frontlines helping his state tackle the 
complex issues facing their schools during the pandemic.
  In his opening statement before the Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions Committee, Dr. Cardona reaffirmed his commitment to forging 
opportunity out of crisis. He also recognized the need to address 
educational inequities head-on and build a better future for the next 
generation.
  He has the track record to show he understands the value of education 
and knows how to get things done. Under Dr. Cardona's leadership, 
Connecticut became the first State in the Nation to ensure that all of 
its public school students had access to a laptop and a high-speed 
internet connection to engage in remote learning during the pandemic. 
At another point in Dr. Cardona's career, he led a task force to help 
figure out how to close the academic achievement gap among students in 
his State.
  The value of education is something that is personal to me.
  My grandpa worked 1,500 feet underground in the mines of Ely, and he 
never graduated from high school, but he knew the value of a quality 
education, saving money in a coffee can in the basement to send my dad 
to college.
  My dad graduated from Vermilion Community College and earned his 
graduate degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota. He went 
on to be a sports reporter and a newspaper columnist.
  My mom was a public school teacher who taught second grade until she 
was 70 years old. She loved teaching. Her favorite unit was the monarch 
butterfly unit, where we would dress up as a monarch butterfly, and she 
would teach the kids about metamorphosis. She would also wear that 
monarch butterfly costume to the supermarket. She was dressed as this 
big monarch butterfly with little antennas on her head and a sign that 
said ``to Mexico or bust'' because that is where the monarch would fly 
on its way from Canada through Minnesota and down.
  At the visitation on the night before my mom's funeral, I met a 
family. I had never met them before, but the mom was sobbing, and she 
had an older son who had a severe disability. The mom said, ``You know, 
your mom had my son here in school when he was in second grade. Now he 
was grown up, and he said he always loved that monarch butterfly unit. 
And after he graduated, he got a job bagging groceries, and your mom 
would continue to go to the grocery store and she would stand in line 
in her monarch butterfly outfit. For years she did this, and would 
always give him a big hug when she got to the end of the line.'' That 
was my mom, and she loved her kids, and she was a devoted teacher.
  I learned the value of education from my parents and grandparents, 
and I believe that it is a basic right that we have in this country 
that every child should have a right to education. I know that Dr. 
Miguel Cardona also believes in that right, and this is why I support 
his confirmation as Secretary of Education. I will also note that 
several of my Republican colleagues, including Senator Burr, ranking 
member on the HELP Committee, have come to the same conclusion.
  This past year has been like no other, filled with tremendous 
challenges for students, educators, and families. As a result of this 
pandemic, parents have had to teach their first graders how to use the 
mute button to go to school. The crisis has taken a toll on the mental 
health of students and educators. There is major work to do to make 
sure that all students can catch up on lost learning caused by gaps in 
access to technology and broadband during the pandemic.
  Thankfully, there is now light at the end of the tunnel with the 
development and distribution of vaccines that protect against the 
coronavirus and stand to save millions of lives. Our country now faces 
important decisions about how to safely and equitably return to in-
person learning, and we need strong, thoughtful leadership to help 
guide these decisions and get our country back up and running. That 
means leadership we can trust to provide guidance that is driven by 
science and by public health experts. It also means leadership that 
will support the rights of all students to have a full and enriching 
educational experience.

[[Page S888]]

  I believe that Dr. Cardona will be a Secretary who will fight for 
public education, not against it; a Secretary who takes seriously the 
Federal Government's role in making education policy, informed by the 
most rigorous science; perhaps most of all, a Secretary who fosters 
compromise, not conflict, in addressing our Nation's many educational 
challenges.
  As one of my mentors Senator Paul Wellstone put it, government should 
work to improve people's lives, and we have a lot of work to do with so 
many students and families in need. But I come to this Chamber today 
optimistic because our country has had a long and strong history of 
stepping up during challenging times like these. I look forward to 
partnering with Dr. Cardona to meet the needs of this moment and 
overcome the obstacles we face to support students, teachers, and 
schools as we work to recover from this pandemic and move forward.
  With that, I ask my colleagues to support the nomination: Miguel 
Cardona as Secretary of Education.

                          ____________________