Political Quotes

“Mr. President, we need to pass the FUTURE Act to help students in historically Black colleges and universities, minority- serving institutions, and we need to do that now. I am here to advocate on behalf of Maryland's four HBCUs that face a funding cliff due to congressional inaction. Without the immediate passage of the FUTURE Act, Bowie State University, Coppin State University, Morgan State University, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore face a collective $4.2 million funding shortfall now that the Higher Education Act's authorization for mandatory funding for these institutions lapsed October 1 of this year. This clean, bipartisan, and paid-for 2-year authorization gives breathing room to continue to negotiate the full reauthorization of the Higher Education Act without holding these historically underfunded institutions hostage. Our HBCUs and MSIs know they can count on this mandatory funding each year to strengthen their course offerings and in-demand STEM programs, make infrastructure improvements, and provide academic counseling and student support services to first-generation and historically underrepresented students. Throwing the budgets of these institutions into chaos directly harms their ability to serve their students and communities. Institutions would have to make decisions about potentially reducing levels of academic services, delaying needed infrastructure investments, and make longstanding staffing decisions.…”