John Shaw: “Mr. Speaker, I am particularly proud of and want to talk about several provisions that are in this bill. One would…”

“Mr. Speaker, I am particularly proud of and want to talk about several provisions that are in this bill. One would improve Medicare benefits to fight breast cancer and cervical cancer. My digital mammography provision gives women access to brand new breast cancer screening technology. The pap test provision makes tests more frequent so that cervical cancer can be found early and treated successfully. Mr. Speaker, it is extremely important to focus on the education provisions of this bill. I know firsthand that we face a public school construction crisis. My congressional district runs through three of the fastest growing school districts in the country. In Palm Beach County, the student population has more than doubled just since 1985. Broward County, the fifth largest school district in the country, has 240,000 students and 210 schools. Miami-Dade County is the fourth largest school district, with over 350,000 students. It averages an increase of 10,000 new students each and every year. I am particularly excited about the portion of this legislation that incorporates my legislation which I have sponsored, along with Florida Senator Bob Graham, the Public School Construction Partnership. These provisions empower local districts to use innovative, cost-effective ways to finance new schools and repair aging ones.”