Julie Johnson: “I rise today to sound an alarm on a crisis threatening America's future. I am talking about the Trump brain drain.…”

“I rise today to sound an alarm on a crisis threatening America's future. I am talking about the Trump brain drain. Donald Trump and Republicans in this House are launching a full scale assault on our Nation's ability to think, learn, and to innovate. Let's look at the facts. Trump's budget cuts funding for the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, STEM education, and even basic K-12 public schools. He has tried to crush public service loan forgiveness and gut Head Start, all while trying to give tax breaks to those who don't need them. This isn't cost savings. It is self-sabotage. In Dallas, we are home to UT Southwestern Medical Center, one of the top research institutions in this country. We have innovators, world-class hospitals, biotech startups, and students ready to change the world. They can't do that when Federal research funding is drying up and educational support is being pulled out from under them. Dallas ISD alone has over 150,000 students, many from middle-class families. Cuts to programs like Head Start, Title I, and after-school STEM enrichment don't just hurt, they derail students' futures. Texas colleges and universities share one of the largest enrollments compared to almost any other State. Yet, under Trump's budget, millions of them would lose access to work-study jobs and to affordable student loans. That is not just an educational crisis, it is an economic time bomb attacking our workforce development.”