Executive Calendar
Floor Speech
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Mr. JONES. Mr. President, before I get into the substance of what I want to talk about, I am going to take my own personal opportunity to remember those whom we lost 18 years ago today. Like everyone else, I remember the events. I was at home with my family and young children, not knowing what was going to happen and seeing things happen. I can remember taking one of my kids to daycare when the second tower collapsed and the radio announcer simply saying, ``They are both gone,'' and the emptiness we felt.
We remember today, we honor today, and we honor not only those whom we lost but honor those responders who were there and who still suffer the pain from having to deal with all of that. Future Act
Mr. President, I rise today almost a year ago since I first came to the Senate floor to discuss the state of our Nation's historically Black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions.
As I did then, and many times since, I am again making an urgent call to colleagues to act. At the end of this month, at the end of the fiscal year, nearly half of all Federal funds these schools receive each year, and have for a long time, is going to end. That is $255 million annually that they have had available to count on for well over a decade. That is going to come to a screeching halt if we don't act, and we need to act now.
These historic institutions serve nearly 4 million students of color. Many of our Nation's brightest minds have matriculated at these institutions. HBCUs are the leading educators for African-American PhDs in science and engineering. They are foundational to building generational wealth in communities that have long faced headwinds in doing so. They are doing amazing work. They are doing incredible work with very limited resources and with their own individual financial headwinds to contend with.
In Alabama, we are home to 14 HBCUs--more than any State in the country--so they are an integral part of my home State's higher education system. Just as important, they are integral to the economy of Alabama.
Minority-serving institutions play a central role in America's higher education system. For example, Hispanic-Serving Institutions account for 13 percent of all nonprofit colleges. Yet they enroll 62 percent of all Hispanic students.
More than 75 percent of students at HBCUs and nearly 80 percent of students at Tribal colleges and universities receive Pell grants, compared to only 32 percent of all students. These schools have a very serious purpose for these kids who otherwise might get shut out, likely would get shut out of our higher education system. They are so important, and they face such strong headwinds financially to achieve.
Last year, we held our first HBCU summit where we brought all of our HBCUs in Alabama together to talk about the challenges, to talk about what they were facing but also to talk about opportunities to work together, to work with the State, to work with the Congress, to try to meet the challenges of our workforce of the 21st century, to try to meet the challenges of our educational system in general. What I saw was an amazing group of people--amazing group of people who were doing the work for their students and for their communities, people who are committed from deep down in their heart. They love these kids. They love the purpose they are serving, and they are thinking ahead. They are thinking outside the box. These are not institutions that are so cookie cutter that they are not willing to explore new opportunities for their students. They are seizing every one of those opportunities.
I have seen firsthand, though, increasing concern from our HBCU community. Given their significance, it is frustrating that some of these schools continue to struggle. Public and private HBCUs face extensive capital project needs but have few funding sources to rely on.
On top of that, the Government Accountability Office found that HBCUs' average endowment is half the size of a similar sized non-HBCU. We have to change that. We have to make sure we provide to these schools because the bottom line is, they have no safety net. They struggle. They work. They do the things. The bottom line is, they have no safety net. If they have no safety net, neither do the students they serve.
This time last year, I was talking about legislation I had introduced called the Strengthening Minority-Serving Institutions Act, which would have permanently extended and increased mandatory funding to all minority-serving institutions. That bill was supported by one-quarter of the Senate. Unfortunately, it was simply all Democrats. We could not get the bipartisan support that I hope we will get in the future. However, now we are here and only have 19 days left in the fiscal year, and these schools still have no certainty about whether these critical funds will continue to be available.
We hear a lot in this body about the need to make sure we continue to fund government, that we continue to fund our military, and about how devastating even a continuing resolution might be to the Defense Department because it doesn't allow the military to plan. I agree with that. I see it. This is $255 million that all of a sudden is going to be cut off completely from schools that have relied on it, that have planned, that have done their budgets around it. We owe it to them. We owe it to them to make sure that we get this funding because they give so much back to us.
Ensuring equal access to quality education should not be a partisan issue, and I worked over the last year to find a solution that I think should receive and could receive broad bipartisan support. I believe we have that in the Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education Act. It is called the FUTURE Act, which I have introduced with my colleague Senator Tim Scott and Representatives Alma Adams and Mark Walker in the House.
The FUTURE Act reauthorizes funding for the next 2 fiscal years, maintaining just level funding of $255 million a year. It is the least we could do. Our bill checks all the boxes. It helps institutions in 43 States. It is bipartisan, it is bicameral, and it is paid for.
Let's not delay any longer. With this important bill, let's get this to the floor. Let's come up with something so we can show the American people how important these institutions are and just as important, we show the American people that, doggone it, we can get something done. That is the most frustrating part I heard about when I went back to Alabama over the recess: When are you going to get something done, Jones?
Well, it is difficult. You all know it. It is difficult, but this is a piece of legislation that ought to receive support in this body and across the aisle, across the Capitol in the House.
This week we have a lot of the HBCU presidents and administrators who are on Capitol Hill. They are coming up for their own benefit but also for the Congressional Black Caucus events that are later this week. They are here on the Hill. It would be the perfect time to get this to the floor. I don't see it on the schedule anywhere, but it would be the perfect time.
As people are looking here, as they are watching us and listening to us, they know we support their institutions. Let's show them we support their institutions.
I urge my colleagues to support the FUTURE Act. Get onboard with us. Sponsor this legislation and, in turn, support our Nation's minority- serving institutions of higher education. Their graduates deserve the same quality education as any other student, and they deserve a fair shot at a successful future. Let's get this done. Let's do our job and get this done.
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