Sam Farr: “I rise in support of this legislation, and I think it is interesting that people are talking about health care because…”

“I rise in support of this legislation, and I think it is interesting that people are talking about health care because, if you don't have a healthy planet and healthy ocean, all of this discussion about how you care for human beings on the planet is for naught. So let's, for a moment, just focus on a healthy Earth that we may understand, and this bill does that by this program called B-WET. I am a strong advocate for California's B-WET program, and I come to the floor today to share a few of the stories that I have heard over the years from students and teachers who have benefited from the support. I would like to tell you about a student who went through California State University of Monterey Bay's Recruitment in Science Education program, a program called RISE, which we all support, to try to get young people interested in the sciences. This young fellow started the RISE program when he was in the sixth grade. He was never very engaged in activities. He was very shy, and he got average grades. He probably would have quit if it hadn't been for his mom and the RISE staff pushing him to stay active. His experiences during a water testing program on the Salinas River while he was a sophomore in high school motivated him to get better grades and to get into college.”