Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Smucker), my friend, for yielding. I rise today in strong support of S. 461, the HBCU PARTNERS Act, introduced by my friend from South Carolina in the Senate, Senator Tim Scott; and my good friend here in the House, Congresswoman Alma Adams of North Carolina; and a strong bipartisan group, including my good friend from Virginia, our chairman of the Education & Labor Committee. Mr. Speaker, HBCUs play a critical role in the education of our young people in this country. Throughout their history, they have helped students achieve the dream of a college education and their unique start to that pursuit of happiness. In our central Arkansas region, we are blessed with four outstanding HBCUs, including Arkansas Baptist College, Philander Smith College, Shorter College, and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. As the vice chairman of the Bipartisan Congressional HBCU Caucus, I am encouraged by the legislation that we consider today because it draws on partnerships--public, private, community--to strengthen our HBCUs. This has been a key for success of our HBCUs in Arkansas. Inspired by the strong Federal consensus both in the executive branch and the legislative branch, last year I sponsored and hosted the first regional HBCU Summit in Little Rock to foster public- and private- sector partnerships to enhance our HBCUs for philanthropy, student recruitment and advancement, and workforce partnerships and apprenticeships.…”