[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 84 (Wednesday, May 15, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3693-S3694]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
S.J. Res. 57
Mr. President, now, on one final matter, I would like to briefly
commend several of our colleagues for their work on resolutions the
Senate will consider to roll back yet another slate of Biden
administration overreach.
Today, we will vote on a resolution from Senator Schmitt to finally
put the brakes on the Treasury Department's extension of massive
recovery funds for a pandemic emergency that has long since passed.
The Senate will vote on another resolution under the Congressional
Review Act from Senator Lummis that would repeal a hasty, shortsighted
power grab
[[Page S3694]]
by the SEC that hampers the deployment of new digital financial
technologies.
And in the coming days, we will also vote on Senator Cruz's
resolution to ax a new Department of Energy rule on gas furnace
efficiency standards that threaten to drive a huge share of existing
residential furnace models out of the market and hike costs for
seniors, small businesses, and low-income households.
As always, I am grateful to our colleagues for leading these efforts,
and I urge the Senate to pass each resolution.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
70th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, this week marks the 70th anniversary of
one of the most important Supreme Court decisions of all time. It is
part of our march toward justice.
On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court announced its decision in Brown v.
Board of Education, unanimously--unanimously--declaring the racist
legal doctrine of ``separate but equal'' unconstitutional.
Today, we celebrate this historic anniversary and how far we have
come as a country since the dark days of Jim Crow. Thankfully, we have
made substantial progress in addressing racial disparities in
education. However, significantly, systemic disparities do still exist
today. More work needs to be done to promote racial equity and end
discrimination inside and outside the classroom.
When the Supreme Court announced its decision in 1954, the
demographics of American school-aged children were significantly
different than they are today. At that time, the school-aged
population, according to The Century Foundation, was roughly 85 percent
White, 12 percent Black, and less than 4 percent other races. Contrast
that with today. America's school-aged population is much more diverse:
48 percent White, 27 percent Hispanic, 15 percent Black, 6 percent
Asian, 1 percent American-Indian, and 4 percent multiracial.
Yet, even with this increase--dramatic increase--in diversity,
America's schools too often remain segregated by race. As of the 2018-
2019 school year, one in six public school students attended schools
where more than 90 percent of their peers had the same racial
background. Illinois has 3 of the country's top 11 most segregated
urban school districts. This lack of racial diversity in our schools is
caused in part by unfair, exclusionary zoning policies that keep low-
income families out of schools in wealthier communities.
Education can play a significant role in helping to close the wealth
gap between families, but unfortunately, due to modern-day segregation,
many Black and Brown students often cannot access the same high-quality
education as their White peers.
If you look at data from U.S. public schools going back to 1967, you
will see that the segregation between Black and White students has
increased by 64 percent since 1988 in the 100 largest school districts.
While school segregation is not at pre-Brown v. Board of Education
levels, it is still high and has been rising steadily since the late
1980s, and because where you go to school depends on your ZIP Code,
students from poor neighborhoods in segregated cities are often trapped
in underperforming schools.
Dismantling segregation has become more difficult now than it would
have been 70 or 80 years ago, but we cannot ignore the challenge.
Unless we focus on desegregating America and its neighborhoods, Brown's
promise of integrated education will remain an unattainable goal.
The Brown decision was supposed to be the first step in a long march
towards Americans' equality. It helped set the stage for challenges to
other Jim Crow policies, such as barriers to fair housing, equal
employment, voting rights, and public accommodations.
Unfortunately, today, the forces of intolerance are working to turn
back the clock. Just last year, the Supreme Court struck down decades
of precedent by ruling that affirmative action policies at two
universities were unconstitutional. The attack on affirmative action
threatens not just opportunities in education but also equal access to
employment and contracts for minorities. The decision rewinds the clock
and recreates barriers to entry for young minority students looking to
pursue a degree in higher education and advance beyond college.
Quality education should be a right in our country, not a privilege.
As a country, we still struggle to fulfill that promise. Public schools
and many other elements of society remain separate and unequal,
diminishing opportunities for millions.
Congress must focus on enacting policies and using resources to
provide every student--Black, White, Brown--with the tools they need to
learn and thrive in America. We must advocate for all students of every
race and every place to have these resources to learn without limits.
As we celebrate 70 years since this historic decision, we honor the
brave individuals who fought hard to bring it to reality. Those of us
here today must honor their determination and sacrifice by continuing
their mission for fairness.
On this 70th anniversary, I urge my colleagues to continue working
toward equality within our education system and society. It is long
overdue for us to repair the broken systems that no longer serve our
children, our grandchildren, and our country.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Hickenlooper). Without objection, it is so
ordered.