Sean Patrick Maloney: “I rise in strong support of his amendment. I also rise today with strong concerns about the supplemental appropriations…”

“I rise in strong support of his amendment. I also rise today with strong concerns about the supplemental appropriations bill. While I agree there are a number of items on the bill that need increased funding, I am disturbed that this funding is at the expense of a very important program, the Workforce Investment Act, which was cut, and that there are other important items that need to be funded, such as education. We all know that nothing is more important to our children's future than education. This amendment would strike $25 million from the operations and maintenance, and transfer these very much needed funds to the Department of Education for the Magnet School Assistance Program. Many of the students in my district in Astoria, Queens, attend magnet schools, specifically School District 30 which serves a very diverse school body in Queens, had received a magnet grant several years ago; and they were in fact in competition for yet another magnet grant this year. Because of their high performance, their increased scores in math and English, I am certain that they would have received the grant; yet the Board of Education ran out of money. So this funding, this $25 million, is needed tremendously. I am also very concerned that this bill cuts the Workforce Investment Act, which provides job training, related services to low-income persons, dislocated workers and other unemployed or underemployed individuals.”