I do want to talk a little bit about the research institutions, and so Dr. Baskerville, of the 131 schools that are classified as research 1 institutions by the Carnegie Classification of Institutes of Higher Ed., none of those are HBCUs.

It is no secret, Madam Chair, that I am passionate about HBCUs.

Our deferred maintenance is over $90 million.

We have significant challenges related to deferred maintenance, somewhere upwards--about $40 million that we need to sort of get caught up.

I applaud Representative Scott's efforts to eliminate equity challenges faced by farmers and rancher of color.

I want to acknowledge Congresswoman Alma Adams and her colleagues for seeking to address some of these facilities issues on the campuses of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

I extend my support to Representative Adams' plan to help our institutions secure full state matching funds.

This legislation would make the sort of investments in these institutions to rectify over a century of systemic neglect.

The Centers of Excellence--and we will be partnering with the other 18 1890 institutions, so all of us will work together.

For more than 125 years, 1890s have provided essential research, education, public outreach, and economic development opportunities across our country.

As Vice Chair of this Committee, it is a priority of mine to make sure that these institutions continue to have the resources to unlock the potential of millions of students across the country.

I want to acknowledge Congresswoman Alma Adams for her leadership in seeking to address some of these infrastructure issues on the campuses of historic Black colleges and universities.