Political Quotes

“I want to thank Chairman Kline and Ranking Member Miller for their work, and Representative Bass for her leadership in working with youth and foster care, and homeless youth in particular, on this bill. Before I came to Congress I founded a charter school with the focus of serving homeless youth and youth in transitional housing called the Academy of Urban Learning in Denver. Not every area, not every city, not every county might have a charter school with a particular focus of working with kids that are in transitional housing, so it is incumbent upon us to ensure that all public charter schools that are supported under this bill ensure that they don't have barriers for foster youth or barriers for youth in transitional housing. There are a lot of particular needs around kids that are going through turmoil in their home life, whether it is at the elementary level or whether it is at the high school level. By adding the language Representative Bass introduced in her bipartisan amendment, we can ensure that any participant in the Federal charter school program doesn't have any barriers to enrolling kids. This week here on the floor of the House has been characterized by partisan rancor around Benghazi and Lois Lerner. How wonderful that Democrats and Republicans can come together not only around this amendment by Karen Bass, but also around the bill itself.…”