Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak up for California's children, our communities, and our environment. The vast majority of American schoolbuses run on diesel, a major source of pollution that contributes to the climate crisis. As a result, bus emissions worsen our air quality with significant harm around schools, in residential areas, and within the passenger cabin. This is a serious problem for our environment and our children's health. The bipartisan infrastructure law that I supported invests in a solution. The Clean School Bus program funds $5 billion for the purchase of electric schoolbuses, improving the air for our kids and our communities. Electric buses also improve discipline, reduce noise pollution, and give schools budget certainty. They can save school districts up to 80 percent on the cost of fuel, maintenance, and repairs. However, the Clean School Bus program unfairly targets California. Even though our State has nearly 13 percent of schoolchildren and the second lowest busing rate in the country, ahead only of Mississippi, the law unfairly imposes a 10 percent State cap on the funds. Even worse, to date, California has only gotten 7.33 percent of the Clean School Bus program funds. Our State leads the Nation in transitioning to electric vehicles and reducing emissions. We need our Federal Government to be a partner in these efforts. California wants to invest in clean buses to take children to school to learn and to grow, but we cannot do it alone.…”