Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 579, the Recruiting Families Using Data Act. This legislation is a good example of Congress doing the work our constituents sent us here to do. Last Congress, my former colleague, Dan Kildee, worked closely with Representative Feenstra to introduce this bipartisan bill, which is based on solid research and the fundamental principle that if we want to know what is best for foster youth and their families, we should ask them. The result was this bill, which would require States to create a new family partnership plan to explain how they are identifying, screening, engaging, and supporting foster and adoptive families, in consultation with people with lived experience. To me, one of the most critical aspects of this will be engaging with the child's family, whether it is by placing foster children with family members directly or making space for kin who can't be foster parents to still support the child and the foster parents. Last Congress, we marked up this bill in the Ways and Means Committee and sent it to the floor with our unanimous consent. While it passed the House on a strong bipartisan vote, I was disappointed that the bill did not become law. I am glad to support it again. I believe it is a strong complement to the bipartisan legislation we enacted last year reauthorizing child welfare services, which included many good ideas from both sides of the aisle.…”