Kevin Kiley: “as a cosponsor of the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act, I am very glad and relieved this day has finally come.…”

“as a cosponsor of the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act, I am very glad and relieved this day has finally come. Mr. Speaker, seven of the counties in my district rely on this program to assure every child has access to a quality education and to provide important public services. Throughout the period in which this fund has lapsed, I have met with many of the leaders in these schools who have talked about the tradeoffs they have had to make. I met with the students who have seen opportunities taken from them, extracurriculars and other programs that have been limited because of this lapse in funding. I thank all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle here today and in the committees of jurisdiction for their tireless efforts in overcoming the inertia of this institution and getting this bill to the floor for a vote today. I look forward to it passing in a resounding bipartisan way and in a way that I hope will assure that, going forward, we don't allow for this sort of lapse to happen again where for 1 years these schools and counties were going without these vitally needed payments. This is a measure that has broad bipartisan support. It is a very popular program. It is an important program. There is no reason that Congress should fail to pass its reauthorization in a timely manner. Mr. Speaker, I look forward to this passing on the floor today. We need to make sure that in the future we don't keep our schools and our students in limbo.”