[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 25, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H1223-H1224]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         MAJORITY OF AMERICANS SUPPORT DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

  (Ms. Bonamici of Oregon was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to condemn in the strongest 
terms possible President Trump's executive order that threatens 
millions of students and local public schools through the dismantling 
of the Department of Education.
  This is an illegal and unconstitutional abuse of power straight out 
of the Project 2025 playbook. Congress created the Department. Only 
Congress can dismantle it, something I will fight every step of the 
way.
  I note that Donald Trump and Elon Musk have likely never set forth in 
a public school, and they certainly do not understand what the 
Department of Education actually does and why it is important, but 
students, families, and teachers in Oregon and across the country 
understand.
  In the past few weeks, several Oregon parents have told me they are 
terrified that their kids will lose access to vital educational 
services. One mom said she worries about sending her two kids with 
special needs to kindergarten next year if there are cuts to IDEA, the 
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
  Unlike Secretary McMahon, I actually know what IDEA stands for and 
what it means for students. I have been an education advocate for 
decades, and no one has ever said we need less money to meet the needs 
of students with disabilities. It is always a plea to fully fund IDEA.
  Another mom told me that her kids attend a title I school and get 
enough to eat because of school breakfast and lunch programs. It is a 
fact that high-poverty schools, about half the schools in the U.S., 
have greater educational needs, and that is why title I dollars provide 
flexibility so districts can determine how to best meet the needs of 
their low-income students. Cutting that funding will widen, rather than 
close, the achievement gap.
  Nonsensically, Trump and Musk are rejoicing at the idea of returning 
power to States and local communities. Return what? States and local 
districts already have power over core functions of education, 
including curriculum, staffing, and budgeting. In fact, it is against 
the law for the Federal Government to set curriculum.
  Donald Trump also makes a bogus argument that declining test scores 
justify abolishing the Department, but test scores don't make the case 
for slashing Federal investment in education. On the contrary, they 
show us where we need to direct resources and support to students, 
especially low-income students and students with disabilities.
  Unfortunately, we are losing an important research tool about what 
students need because the Trump administration has taken a chain saw to 
the National Center for Education Statistics.
  We know that more than 51,000 public schools serve concentrated 
populations of students from low-income families and receive title I 
funds. Almost 7.5 million students with disabilities receive a free, 
appropriate public education because of IDEA.
  I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to speak with 
your local and State legislators and ask them if they have extra 
resources to fill these gaps.
  Also, the majority of Federal funding through the Department of 
Education is to open doors of opportunity to higher education for 
students who choose to attend college but can't afford the cost. This 
includes Pell grants, Federal work-study, and low-interest loans to 
those who qualify.
  I would not be where I am today without the Federal aid I got to 
first attend community college, then college, then law school.
  Importantly, the Department of Education is a civil rights agency. 
The Office for Civil Rights enforces Federal laws prohibiting 
discrimination and harassment, investigating thousands of civil rights 
cases every year, primarily from students with disabilities. This work 
will be more difficult, if not impossible, with the Trump 
administration firing at least 240 employees in the Office for Civil 
Rights and closing more than half of its regional offices.
  Donald Trump also says he wants to shut down the Department but keep 
its

[[Page H1224]]

core functions. Get rid of the people with expertise and give the core 
functions to other agencies without the expertise or the staff to 
handle them? That is not government efficiency. It is absurdity.
  Last month, I introduced H. Res. 94 in defense of public schools and 
the Department of Education, and more than 85 of my colleagues have 
signed on. We will fight all efforts to defund and dismantle the 
important work the Department does, and we won't back down.
  The consequences are clear: Closing the Department of Education will 
harm students, families, communities, and the economy. The majority of 
Americans support the Department of Education, and I know public school 
advocates will be working tirelessly to maintain the strong and vital 
Federal investment in our system of public education.

  Donald Trump and Elon Musk might think that this ill-conceived abuse 
of power will go unchecked. They are about to find out how wrong they 
are.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from 
engaging in personalities toward the President.

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