[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 63 (Tuesday, April 8, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H1467]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     CHALLENGES FACING OUR STUDENTS

  (Ms. Bonamici of Oregon was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, as someone who has dedicated years of my 
career to education striving to create a better future for children, I 
find it disturbing and ironic that my colleagues in the majority pass 
bills that they say are to protect students but, in fact, do nothing to 
address the real challenges children are facing in schools today.
  The majority is willing to pass a bill to protect students from the 
Chinese Communist Party, something no parent or educator has ever 
mentioned to me, but not willing to address gun violence, increasing 
behavioral health needs, or, importantly, the stress and fear that the 
Trump administration has created by giving ICE free range to raid 
sensitive locations, including schools.
  Don't take my word for it. Listen to the words of a fourth grade 
student in Oregon who wrote me this letter:
  ``Hi. I am a local student, and I am in fourth grade. Ever since the 
rules were changed to allow ICE agents to enter schools, I have felt 
scared for my safety and the safety of my classmates, friends, and 
neighbors. I feel scared and distracted in class sometimes because I am 
worried ICE might come in our school. I worry what might happen to me 
if I refuse to answer their questions to protect my friends and 
classmates. I also worry about ICE agents trying to talk to me on the 
bus ride from school. I worry about what I should do if ICE agents come 
up to my neighbors when I am walking with them home from the bus stop. 
Some of the things I worry about are: Do I hide my friends if they are 
getting taken? If ICE enters my school and takes someone, what will the 
school do? If ICE takes my classmate, what should I do? Where does ICE 
take people? And what do I do if my friends come home to an empty house 
because their family got deported?
  ``I wish I did not have to worry about these things, and I wish even 
more that my friends, classmates, and neighbors did not have to either. 
Thanks for your time.''
  Mr. Speaker, this administration said they were going to go after 
dangerous criminals and drug dealers, but what they are doing instead 
with this disastrous mass deportation effort is creating fear and 
stress across the country including among young children.
  ``I wish I didn't have to worry about these things,'' the student 
said. So do I and so should anybody in this body with an ounce of 
compassion. These are kids. Let that sink in, and let's do what we need 
to do to truly protect students.

                          ____________________