Barbara Lee: “First, let me just thank the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Fudge) for yielding and for her tremendous leadership on behalf…”

“First, let me just thank the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Fudge) for yielding and for her tremendous leadership on behalf of our children, but also for demonstrating what strength in diversity means throughout her life's work. I thank her for bringing this Strength in Diversity bill to the floor, H.R. 2639. Let me just say a couple of things. First of all, this bill takes action where Secretary DeVos and the administration have failed to act to make sure that all of our children, no matter what color they are, get the same opportunities to get an education and pursue their dreams. We have had this discussion over and over and over again in the Appropriations Committee with the Secretary. Sixty years ago, Ruby Bridges was the first African-American student to attend an integrated school in the South. Yes, as has been said by our chair and also the gentlewoman authoring this bill, this is 66 years after Brown v. Board of Education. We still have segregation in our school districts, and it is leading to measurably unjust outcomes for Black and Brown students, robbing them of their future. Now, when I started school, mind you, schools were segregated. My family in El Paso, Texas, fought to desegregate schools, especially my beloved mother, Mildred Parish Massey, who was one of the first students to integrate the University of Texas at El Paso.…”