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Underground Railroad Educational and Cultural Program Authorization Act of 2007

Floor Speech

Date: July 30, 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Education


UNDERGROUND RAILROAD EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - July 30, 2007)

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Mrs. SCHMIDT. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R 2707, the Underground Railroad Education and Culture Act of 2007. I thank my colleague from Ohio, Mr. KUCINICH as well as Education and Labor Chairman GEORGE MILLER for bringing this important bill to the floor today.

Madam Speaker, this important bill will provide federal support to programs around the country that educate Americans about the courageous actions undertaken by ordinary people during one of the darkest eras in our history. During times of slavery, these courageous Americans, both Black and White as well as free and under slavery, bound together to form what would be known as the Underground Railroad. This racially integrated movement to bring about social change has familiar heroes such as Harriet Tubman, John Rankin and Susan B. Anthony, but there are thousands more who risked their lives to help others escape the clutches of slavery as they fled to the North.

The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, located in my Congressional District in Cincinnati, Ohio has successfully competed for grants under this program to connect the lessons of the past to the struggles for freedom in the current day through an informative educational curricula.

Should the Congress authorize and appropriate funds for this important grant program, educational centers such as the Freedom Center in my District as well as other sites around the country would be eligible to apply for competitive grants to shed light on one of the most important and courageous social movements in our history while preserving and interpreting artifacts found from this critical era.

Moreover, this important legislation would ensure a strong public-private partnership exists to supplement and leverage federal resources along with funds collected at the state and local level.

Madam Speaker, I want to again thank my colleague from Ohio, Mr. KUCINICH for his leadership in bringing this important bill to the floor. I ask my colleagues to support H.R. 2707.

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