[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 38 (Monday, March 1, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S911]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             MAIDEN SPEECH

  Mr. TUBERVILLE. Madam President, I rise today to speak on the Senate 
floor for the first time as a U.S. Senator from the great State of 
Alabama.
  I want to share some thoughts on how we can work together as a team 
to improve the lives of our constituents and to provide more 
opportunity for the next generation of Americans, but before I begin, I 
want to take a moment to thank the people of Alabama.
  For the last 2 years, I have traveled the State, from Mobile to 
Muscle Shoals, from the Wiregrass to Lake Guntersville, and many places 
in between. I talked to folks from all walks of life. Mostly, I 
listened, which is something we can all do better. I listened to 
people's hopes, and I listened to their concerns. I heard what they 
thought was going right in our country and State and what they thought 
was going wrong, and even after being a football coach my entire 
career, working day and night, running for the Senate was still the 
hardest thing I have ever done, but I enjoyed every minute.
  In the end, I asked the people of Alabama to trust me with the 
responsibility of representing them here in Washington, and they did. 
It is humbling. It is an opportunity to serve my country that I 
respect, cherish, and will always honor. My staff and I will work hard 
every day to live up to that trust.
  Like the Presiding Officer, my constituents sent me to Washington to 
represent them and to help make their lives better. I recognize we all 
have our differences, but we are all on the same team. We have got an 
offense and a defense, but at the end of the day, we are still on the 
same team. One of the things we can do together as a team is to create 
more opportunity for more people. In my view, that starts with 
education.
  I have been an educator, a coach, and a mentor to young people for 40 
years. I recruited 18- to 19-year-olds from all over the country and 
all walks of life. I saw how they lived. I was a father figure to 
hundreds of young men who had one or no parents. I coached young people 
from all backgrounds--rich, poor, and everybody in between. I mentored 
young people of all races, religions, and economic backgrounds.
  As someone who has had a chance to travel across the country and this 
globe for my career, I have seen how other people live. One thing I 
have learned is that education is the key to freedom--the key to 
freedom--the freedom to live the life you want. I have seen firsthand 
how education can give you a leg up and a way out. It is a way to 
achieve the American dream. When we empower our young people with a 
quality education, we give them the gift of an opportunity, the 
greatest gift our country can give our citizens. And what I found out 
as a coach is that, when people are given an opportunity to better 
themselves, they usually take it.
  I think I can safely say I have been in more public schools than any 
Senator ever. Too often, I have found that we are failing our young 
people by not providing the quality education they deserve. It is not 
about money; it is about people; it is about what we value and what we 
teach. Improving education in this country should be one of the, if not 
the top, priorities we have. That is why I am proud to be a new member 
of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. On the 
HELP Committee, we need to work together as a team to do three things.
  First, we need to recognize that parents and teachers know how to 
best educate our young people in their communities because we are all 
different. The Federal Government does not need to tell parents in 
Alabama how to teach their kids. We don't need a one-size-fits-all 
education curriculum. What works in San Francisco will not necessarily 
work in Scottsboro, AL.
  Second, we should recognize that education takes many forms. Not 
every student in America needs to go to a 4-year college or university. 
To ensure our country remains competitive in the 21st century, we need 
to promote STEM education to those students who have an interest in 
math and science, but to remain strong, this country also needs 
welders, plumbers, nurses, equipment operators, electricians, and 
craftsmen. These are jobs that have excellent pay and great futures. If 
the Democrats want to pass a massive infrastructure bill, they need to 
first ask: Who is going to build it? That is why I will be looking for 
any opportunity to support career technical programs that prepare a 
skilled workforce. Our goal should be to restore America to a country 
that makes things again.
  No. 3, we have got to start teaching our young people moral values 
again. That starts with putting God and prayer back in our schools. Our 
kids need structure, and they need to learn right from wrong. I have 
watched everything that has happened in education over the past few 
decades from a front-row seat on my sideline as a coach. It is 
embarrassing. As a person who chooses to spend their career in 
education, I now have the opportunity to say something as a U.S. 
Senator.
  Our young people are our No. 1 hope for this country's future. If we 
don't recognize that, we are going to lose our country as we know it. 
As of 2018, the United States is 13th in the world for reading, 18th 
for science, and we are 36th in the world for math. That is 
unacceptable.
  This country was built on hard work. It was built on competition, 
whether it is business or individual. Education and athletics teach you 
how to compete, how to have grit, determination, and to work together 
as a team. Now, you can learn everything you want from books, but if 
you don't learn to persevere and compete, it is hard to succeed.
  Some people in this country think that you are owed something simply 
because you live in the United States of America. This country doesn't 
owe you a job or a paycheck. This country only owes you one thing, and 
that is an opportunity, but what is great about this country is that it 
also gives you the opportunity to fail. That might sound a little funny 
coming from a football coach who spent his entire career trying to win, 
but here, if you fail, this country will give you a chance to get back 
on your feet and try to succeed again and again. You don't get that 
opportunity in most countries on God's green Earth.
  That being said, I appreciate the opportunity to serve with 
Chairwoman Murray and Ranking Member Burr, and I look forward to 
getting down to work and returning education to one of our top 
priorities.
  I yield the floor.

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