Karen Bass: “I rise here tonight in the 5 minutes allocated to me to urge negotiators, both Republicans and Democrats, to use this as…”

“I rise here tonight in the 5 minutes allocated to me to urge negotiators, both Republicans and Democrats, to use this as an opportunity to put money into special education, to fully fund or to move toward fully funding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. As the previous speaker mentioned a couple of minutes ago, this is a Federal mandate that was established in the early seventies. Originally and today, we are required to fund up to 40 percent of the costs of special education. When I entered this body in 1995, the level of funding was 6 percent, and now it is a little less than 12 percent. This is a tragedy. It is a tragedy because it hits every single school district and school in the United States. It is a tragedy because it hurts families that have children with disabilities and have to live in communities where the cost of this education, which is perfectly legitimate and necessary, is borne for the most part by friends and neighbors. Mr. Speaker, the folks who are negotiating tonight need to look seriously at allocating every single one of these dollars to fully fund our obligation to fund special education.”