Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. TAKAI. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would first like to thank the chairman and the ranking member for this opportunity.

Mr. Chairman, I offer this amendment with Mr. Jones of North Carolina. Our bipartisan amendment would increase DOD's supplemental impact aid to $55 million, $25 million more than appropriated in the bill currently. This would benefit schools in almost every school district that hold a military installation. Schools that had 20 percent average daily attendance of military-dependent students in the preceding year as counted on their Federal impact aid application are eligible to receive funding on an annual basis.

Congress has recognized the needs faced by many school districts educating a large number of military children and has consistently provided increases in this aid; yet last year, in fiscal year 2015, this funding was dropped from $45 million to $25 million. This is not enough. With the stress put on military kids throughout the past years, this aid should be increasing, not decreasing.

The education of a military child is a military readiness issue. The men and women serving in the military today have to rely on local school districts to provide quality education and counseling programs for their students and children.

Earlier this year, a letter signed by many Members of this Congress and endorsed by multiple organizations asking for this critical program to be fully supported at $50 million for DOD impact aid, with $5 million for children of military families with severe disabilities, was sent to the House Committee on Appropriations. As we know, we have to offset any funding increase for one program with another if we play by the rules, and I have done so with this amendment.

Our amendment is fully offset by using funding from an Office of the Secretary of Defense servicewide administration account, O&M defensewide. The children are our future, and many that grow up in our military families today will be the military leaders of our future. I urge my colleagues to vote for this amendment.

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