Providing for Consideration of H.R. Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act, and Providing for Consideration of H.R. Schools Not Shelters Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. ESCOBAR. Mr. Speaker, this week, the House is poised to pass a bill threatening funding for public schools and institutions of higher learning if they provide shelter to vulnerable migrants.

First, it is important to state the obvious. Migrant encounters are down by 70 percent, and the number of people arriving at the southern border has dropped significantly since the Biden administration ended the use of the Trump-era title 42 policy months ago.

While my Republican colleagues want to continue their rabidly anti- immigrant agenda instead of focusing on the needs of the American people, the American people should know that President Biden's efforts to better manage the border are working.

Second, it is important for the American people to understand what my Republican colleagues are really trying to do.

Last December and early again this spring, members of the media descended on my community of El Paso, Texas, to film and interview hundreds, and at some point, thousands of migrants sleeping on the streets of El Paso.

During that coverage, my community told the country that our shelters were full. My community, like others across the country, sprang into action, and with the help of Federal funding, El Paso's Office of Emergency Management provided emergency shelter for vulnerable migrants, and because other shelters were full, had to use empty schools on a temporary basis.

My Republican colleagues aren't trying to help us find solutions, which, by the way, could be done if we could get bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform done. Instead, they are using legislative action to harm migrants and harm communities like mine.

Earlier this year, Republicans worked to eliminate funding to NGOs and receiving communities, and now they are deliberately trying to create a humanitarian catastrophe by further limiting options for receiving communities. This is what they want: a humanitarian catastrophe.

By prohibiting the use of schools for emergency shelter, my Republican colleagues are creating a situation where migrants may not have anywhere else to go except the streets of communities like mine if we were to see numbers climb again.

Unfortunately, the Republican Party of today is gripped by troubling extremism. Instead of seeking real solutions, again, like passing comprehensive immigration reform on a bipartisan basis, they are instead seeking to appease the extremists among them in their ranks.

If they want to deal with challenges inside our schools, how about they work with us on gun violence or teacher shortages.

Democrats, on the other hand, remain focused on solutions and will continue to fight for the needs of Americans. One of those areas of concern in districts across the country has more to do with ensuring we protect key programs that help everyday Americans, which is why if we defeat the previous question, Democrats will bring up a resolution affirming our commitment to protecting Social Security and Medicare.

These are vital programs that have a profound impact on the lives of millions of Americans. Both programs serve as a cornerstone of retirement security and affordable healthcare coverage for our seniors, people with disabilities, disabled workers, and survivors of deceased workers.

In my district, many El Pasoans rely on Social Security and Medicare to help them meet their basic needs such as housing, preventative care, prescription drugs, doctors' visits, and daily expenses.

This inhumane school defunding bill does nothing to truly address any real challenges we face, and I urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question so we can instead bring up important legislation affirming our commitment to the American people.

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