[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 131 (Tuesday, July 27, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H3912]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            SUPPORTING UCLA'S QUARTER IN WASHINGTON PROGRAM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Barragan) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. BARRAGAN. Mr. Speaker, as a young college student, I remember 
coming to Washington, D.C., to work at the White House.
  I was so inspired that, in 1999, I returned to D.C. through UCLA's 
Quarter in Washington Program. It was known as the CAPPP program, which 
stands for the Center of American Politics and Public Policy.
  This time, my internship experience was very different. The UCLA's 
CAPPP program offered something unique, setting it apart from most 
programs that focus only on internships. It had a required research 
seminar that introduced me to serious original social research and 
writing. There is no doubt that this program honed my skill set and 
challenged me with a major research project.
  At UCLA, the classes were so big that I did not have a similar 
opportunity on campus. The program engaged and encouraged me to 
seriously explore policy questions of interest to me in a disciplined 
way.
  In fact, my research was on the issue of racial disparities in public 
health, a top priority of mine in Congress today.
  The rewards I derived from UCLA's CAPPP Quarter in Washington program 
have been shared by many others who have benefited. I have learned that 
since my time in the program, CAPPP has brought ever more diverse 
cohorts of students, especially women and students of color. CAPPP 
demonstrated that top universities like UCLA can be competitive, 
excellent, and diverse at the same time.
  Every May, UCLA hosts Undergraduate Research Week in its famed Pauley 
Pavilion. Over the past several years, CAPPP Quarter in Washington 
students have distinguished themselves, winning awards such as Dean's 
Prizes and UCLA's coveted Library Prize.
  The recent director, a former UCLA professor of mine, Professor James 
Desveaux, said that more students from this program--2,500 miles from 
Westwood--have participated in UCLA's Undergraduate Research Conference 
than from any other program or department in the social sciences or 
humanities.
  After graduation, CAPPP's alumni have gone on to remarkable 
accomplishments. Just a few examples of CAPPP alumni:
  The top applicant to Yale Law School in 2018, now an editor at the 
Yale Law Journal.
  The daughter of Nigerian immigrants who grew up in low-income housing 
in Los Angeles was an English major at UCLA with zero training in the 
social sciences until the CAPPP program in Washington. Because of her 
research in Washington, she gained admission to the prestigious Ph.D. 
program at Harvard's Chan School of Public Health in 2020.
  Zachary Baron, oversight counsel for the House Committee on Ways and 
Means in this very Chamber.
  Addar Levi, the Deputy General Counsel for the U.S. Treasury 
Department.
  The former deputy city attorney for San Francisco.
  And the list goes on and on.
  This program taught us critical thinking and research skills that 
have transformed our lives and set us up to make a real difference in 
the world.
  As an alumna, I join the UCLA CAPPP alumni group on Facebook. A few 
weeks ago, as I was reading my news feed, I got some stunning news: 
UCLA's CAPPP program has been dismantled.
  I read the former director's farewell letter. The decision had 
nothing to do with COVID or funding shortages. The decision was made by 
a handful of administrators who believe that having a research 
requirement as part of UCLA's internship program in Washington is 
unnecessary. Students can do research on the campus, they insisted.
  For 31 years, UCLA's CAPPP program demonstrated success. There was 
always high demand from its students wanting to engage in research 
while interning in Washington. Why deny them this opportunity? After 
all, aren't research universities supposed to be about teaching and 
research?
  As a product of UCLA's CAPPP program, I know its value firsthand. I 
believe the skills I learned and the research I conducted had a role in 
getting me where I am today.
  It truly saddens me to learn the program is coming to an end. This 
seems contrary to the mission of the number one public research 
university. I hope that UCLA will reconsider and give students the 
opportunity to grow from this unique undergraduate opportunity.

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