Nydia M. Velazquez: “I rise today deeply disturbed by the Republican majority's continual disregard for the future of our children. Year…”

“I rise today deeply disturbed by the Republican majority's continual disregard for the future of our children. Year after year they attack important education programs and now they refuse to provide funds for school construction and smaller classroom size. Have you not learned? The American people believe in educational opportunities. They want their children to learn and succeed. But for many of our children, a schoolroom is not a place to learn but a place to survive. Like our roads and bridges, our Nation's schoolrooms are crumbling. In my district in New York, children are trying to learn in conditions that we should be ashamed of, crumbling walls, leaking roofs, and overcrowding. How can a child be expected to learn to read and write when the walls are literally falling down around them? Democrats are committed to making sure that every child in this country has a modern, safe school in which to learn. This is a commitment we have made to our children and it is a commitment worth fighting for.”