[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 24 (Friday, February 9, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S594-S595]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            MORNING BUSINESS

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                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                VERMONT STATE OF THE UNION ESSAY WINNERS

 Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, since 2010, I have sponsored a 
State of the Union essay contest for Vermont high school students. This 
contest gives students in my State the opportunity to articulate what 
issues they would prioritize if they were President of the United 
States.
  This is the contest's 14th year, and I would like to congratulate the 
454 students who participated. It is truly heartening to see so many 
young people engaged in finding solutions for the problems that face 
our country. To my mind, this is what democracy is all about.
  A volunteer panel of Vermont educators reviewed the essays and chose 
Leah Frisbie as this year's winner. Leah, a junior at Essex High 
School, wrote about the impact that banning books has on our society. 
Abigail Curry, a junior at Mount Mansfield Union High School, was the 
second place winner. Abigail wrote about Native American access to 
clean water. Leah Fitzgerald, a senior at Bellows Free Academy Saint 
Albans, was the third place winner, with an essay on addressing 
homelessness.
  I am very proud to enter into the Congressional Record the essays 
submitted by Leah, Abigail, and Leah.
  The material follows:

            Winner, Leah Frisbie, Essex High School, Junior

       Books are foundational to our society, as self-discovery is 
     enhanced through reading about different characters, 
     cultures, and perspectives and finding similarities within it 
     all. Books have the power to transform lives, tell important 
     stories, and spread information. As each year more and more 
     books are pulled from library shelves, the opportunities 
     provided are reduced. The banning of books in the United 
     States is a pressing problem that deprives people across the 
     country from perspectives, information, and freedom.
       In recent years, the removal of books from school libraries 
     has exponentially increased in the United States. According 
     to The New York Times, ``The PEN report, which counted book 
     removals in school and classroom libraries during the 2022-
     2023 school year, found 3,362 cases of books being removed, a 
     33 percent increase over the previous school year.'' The 
     majority of banned books target topics relating to gender 
     identity, racial justice, and sexuality. Through attempts to 
     ban books, marginalized groups' stories and perspectives are 
     silenced. The act of banning books diminishes the quality and 
     purpose of education. With the absence of diverse stories 
     shared, the population becomes less educated, and 
     marginalized groups will continue to be underrepresented. 
     When students aren't exposed to diverse stories, ignorance, 
     hate, and fear rise.
       The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is a book that tells the 
     true story of a young girl facing racism and its correlation 
     to police brutality in the US. Although it is a heavy topic, 
     it accurately addresses the reality and problems of our 
     society. It communicates someone's life experiences, yet is 
     widely banned in school libraries due to its portrayal of 
     racism and anti-police views. The Hate U Give is a single 
     example out of thousands of books, where underrepresented 
     groups' stories, history, and truth is restricted from the 
     public.
       In order to stop the escalation of banned books, Congress 
     must pass the Fight Banned Books Act that was introduced in 
     December of 2023. The act provides funding to school 
     districts to fight against the banned book crisis. Currently, 
     many schools do not have the budget to defend banned books, 
     resulting in a surge of books being pulled from shelves. With 
     the act, The Department of Education would dedicate $15 
     million over five years to school districts to help assist in 
     the costs, including retaining legal representation, travel 
     to hearings on bans, and maintaining expert research. By 
     passing the Fight Banned Books Act, school districts across 
     the nation would play a fundamental role in decreasing banned 
     books and spreading awareness.
       Congress must pass the Fight Banned Books Act in order to 
     protect the nation from the needless deprivation of 
     information. The issues occurring in society, such as gender 
     and race inequalities, deserve to be shared in libraries. 
     While the intention of removing books from shelves is to 
     protect students, it is doing the complete opposite: 
     Students' education, freedom, and exposure to different 
     perspectives is deprived.

 Second Place, Abigail Curry, Mount Mansfield Union High School, Junior

       In the Mojave desert, along the Colorado River, there lives 
     a tribe of indigenous Americans who call themselves the Aha 
     Makav. Translated as best as possible into English, this name 
     means ``The river runs through the middle of my body.'' The 
     Aha Makav are one of 30 tribes living in the Colorado River 
     Basin, where the river has all but dried up and the water 
     crisis has reached catastrophic levels. But they're not the 
     only ones struggling to find water. Research by the House 
     Committee on Natural Resources showed that 48% of Native 
     Americans living on reservations in the U.S. don't have a 
     reliable source of clean, drinkable water-a proportion 80x 
     higher than the 0.6% of all Americans who don't have access 
     to drinking water.
       Part of the issue's cause is that when Native Americans 
     were assigned reservation land, much of what they received 
     was dry, barren land in the West that were predisposed to 
     drought. They have also been repeatedly left out of 
     infrastructure and utility development projects that would 
     have brought them running water, leaving hundreds of 
     thousands to haul water by the bucket.

[[Page S595]]

       So far, the government has refused any obligation to 
     improve the issue. This past June, the Supreme Court ruled in 
     Arizona v. Navajo Nation that even if Indigenous tribes have 
     treaty rights to a river's water, the government doesn't have 
     any obligation to assess how much of it they have a right to, 
     or to help them actually access it.
       The indigenous water crisis is a complicated issue that 
     will only get harder to solve as climate change continues to 
     worsen droughts in the U.S. That being said, there is a path 
     to a solution. First, the Supreme Court must overturn their 
     decision in Arizona v. Navajo Nation. This ruling was a 
     significant step backwards for native water rights, but it 
     was only a 5-4 majority. If the decision is revisited, it's 
     very possible for it to reverse. This will remove the new 
     roadblock in the way of indigenous water access, and open an 
     opportunity for the U.S. to make reparations and improve 
     water access for Native Americans.
       Once the road forward is clear, proactive steps must be 
     taken to ensure that Native Americans can access the water 
     they have a right to. The court must first quantify how much 
     water native tribes have a right to, and therefore how river 
     and ground water will be distributed among tribes and other 
     consumers. Once this is quantified, the government must 
     increase funding for water infrastructure projects on 
     reservations. This funding will allow tribes to access river 
     and ground water, as well as opening treatment plants to 
     create their own potable water.
       As the water crisis in the U.S. worsens and Native 
     Americans become more vulnerable to its effects, it is 
     imperative that the U.S. begins to remedy the centuries of 
     harm done to Native Americans by taking action to ensure 
     their access to clean, safe water.

Third Place, Leah Fitzgerald, Bellows Free Academy Saint Albans, Senior

       The 2023 Point in Time (PIT) count conducted by the U.S 
     Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) revealed 
     the disheartening truth that over 653,104 American citizens 
     were experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 
     of last year. 40% of such individuals were reported as 
     unsheltered, meaning ``living'' in a place not intended for 
     human habitation. 41 U.S. states reported a significant surge 
     of persons experiencing homelessness compared to years prior. 
     The 2023 PIT count is the highest recorded count in HUD data, 
     surpassing figures back from 2007. This data is not just a 
     statistical representation: it narrates the lived experiences 
     for thousands of Americans, and writes the story of 
     negligence, ignorance and systematic tolerance for homeless 
     Americans.
       Interning at a local emergency housing shelter during high 
     school allowed me to witness these numbers in real life. 
     Distributing gloves, hats, blankets, and food could not 
     overshadow the fact many would be sleeping outside in the 
     cold Vermont weather without a roof over their heads. In my 
     county, over 462 citizens, with 114 being children, were on 
     record as having experienced homelessness in 2023.
       Solving homelessness goes beyond than simply building more 
     homes. Even with less restrictive building codes, or a 
     substantial decrease in housing prices, these improvements 
     would not exclusively benefit the homeless populations. With 
     the average two-bedroom apartment being over 1700 dollars a 
     month, the only reasonable option for low-income citizens is 
     subsidized units.
       Despite the pre-existing welfare programs like PBRA, TBRA, 
     and FRA that have been assisting low-income families for over 
     75 years, the HUD budget can only assist 1 in 4 eligible 
     citizens with its current funding. Similarly, the Housing 
     First model supported by the Biden-Harris administration 
     struggles to become mainstream without adequate funding. 
     Providing housing is the first step to solving homelessness, 
     but there is an entire staircase that is essential to 
     breaking the continuous cycle of homelessness.
       Studies show that ``wrap around'' services are critical for 
     citizens to remain in permanent housing, however such support 
     is hard to find. With the entire nation understaffed, 
     underfunded and overwhelmed the solution for solving 
     homelessness is not quick nor short term. First, support to 
     the private and public housing sectors is essential to 
     promoting housing. By expanding programs such as HOME, PRO 
     Housing, or TBRA will encourage land use and support the 
     housing market. New units can specifically be sectioned off 
     for homeless populations under PBRA.
       Upon entering such housing, citizens need to be connected 
     with behavioral, mental, medical and financial services 
     funded by programs like SSA and HHS. Programs under the HUD 
     should also be adequately funded through the national budget. 
     HUD receives a little over 1% of the total budget, yet 
     supports over 3 million families in housing assistance.
       Short term solutions such as emergency housing vouchers or 
     emergency rental assistance are not sustainable. As a nation, 
     we must understand that in order to solve this ongoing issue, 
     support from all angles is the only permanent solution to 
     ending homelessness.

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