She truly embodies the American Dream. She is a great woman and a great American, and I urge my colleagues to join me in honoring her.

She has sought to bring out the best in the students and the best in the community.

I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Ms. Spatola and wishing her well as she continues to touch the future.

Her teaching and her leadership have been dynamic.

This honor is fitting for a woman who has worked so hard and touched so many lives in so many ways.

All of these attributes make Ms. Spatola an important member of P.S. 123K and a valued member of our community.

By exposing her students to these diverse traditions, she not only enhances their educational experience, but deepens the roots of the community and strengthens its fabric.

For too long small businesses who are creditors have been hurt when customers and clients have been unable to pay their bills. For small businesses, the bankruptcy of other companies can mean an uncertain future. The adoption of my…

we cannot prepare our children for the future with an educational system from the past. We cannot lift our students up by sending them to schools that are falling down. These are simple facts which must be addressed, and they must be…

Mr. Speaker, the biggest challenge facing our Nation's business is access to capital. For small businesses, access to capital means access to opportunity, and by passing the Small Business Investment Company Technical Corrections Act…

I rise today not only in opposition to these impeachment articles, but to express my outrage and sadness over a process driven not by fairness, but by a small minority obsessed with impeachment. Instead of putting politics aside and coming…

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…

the popularity of historical sites like Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty attests to the value of this nation's rich immigrant history and the importance Americans place on understanding their heritage. But the story of the immigrant…

it is amazing to me that a party that claims to be trying to win Hispanic votes attacks us time and time again. Worse yet, today they are attacking our children. I hope that every Latino in this country hears this message loud and clear…

Mr. Chairman, Puerto Rico is a nation, a Latin American nation and a Caribbean nation. It is a historically constituted stable ethnic community with a common culture, a common history, a common economic life, and its own language, Spanish…

this amendment adds a new finding to the bill. It recognizes the separate and distinct nature of Puerto Rican citizenship. The amendment provides that on November 18, 1997, the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico decided that there exists Puerto…

I want to make a clarification. It is important for Puerto Ricans in the mainland to participate, because, in fact, Puerto Ricans in the United States, they go back and forth to Puerto Rico. But there are many Puerto Ricans here who have…

Mr. Chairman, today has been an education for a lot of Americans watching this debate. Perhaps some people have learned about the passions surrounding this debate. Maybe some people have come to understand at least a little bit how proud…

the road to the ballot box for women and minorities has never been easy. Now, Republicans want to begin a new and tragic chapter in our country's voting rights history. Mr. Speaker, I was born in this country. As a Puerto Rican, I am just…

today we will pass this Small Business Administration reauthorization bill which provides valuable resources to a number of vital programs. While I have worked hard in support of those programs, I rise today to address some elements of the…

our public schools are under attack. Across the country there are students trying to learn in conditions that we should be ashamed of: crumbling walls, leaky roofs, and overcrowding. The Republicans' response to this crisis is amazing…

Mr. Chairman, right now there are people who are working 18 to 20 hours a day under threat of beatings and torture. One might think I am describing a Third World country, but I am not. Right now these crimes are repeated in virtually every…

the purpose of our democracy is to debate our differences in an open and civil manner. Without respectful disagreement, there can be no freedom. When we lose elections or when we lose battles in this Chamber, we understand that this is the…

this month our Nation's children will return to school, but for many of these children a schoolroom is not a place to learn but a place to survive. Like our roads and bridges, our Nation's schools are crumbling. In my district in New York…

At some point, the chairman of the Committee on House Oversight, months ago, announced that not only would they be going after the district of the gentlewoman from California, Ms. Loretta Sanchez, but he mentioned three more districts, all…