John Hickenlooper Asks Education Department Nominee About Civil Rights Protections For Students

Forbes Breaking News

During Thursday’s Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) questioned nominees about civil rights protections for U.S. students.

Transcript

00:00for this position of high responsibility. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:04Senator Rankin-Doper.

00:06Yes, and I know we're going to miss our vote, so I'm going to ask one question.

00:09We're not going to miss our vote if we get there by 12.01.

00:12Okay, well then I'm going to just do one or two questions then.

00:16On Sunday, 12 Coloradans were badly injured after a suspect threw incendiary devices and Molotov cocktails into a crowd.

00:25A targeted anti-Semitic attack was not random, deliberate hate crime.

00:32Attacks like this are clearly unacceptable anywhere, whether in Boulder or outside a Jewish museum in Washington

00:38or a college campus, anywhere in this country.

00:40The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights is tasked with investigating civil rights complaints

00:46like those that so many Jewish students across the country are experiencing.

00:49Despite the intense surge in anti-Semitic attacks, the administration has terminated nearly half of the staff in this office.

01:00So, Ms. Richie, I just want to ask you, you've said that you're committed to thoroughly reviewing all complaints submitted to OCR

01:06in a timely manner.

01:08With this great rise in cases, how on earth do you plan to achieve this?

01:13Thank you for the question, Senator.

01:16You know, I think what it's going to require of me, if I'm fortunate enough to be confirmed in serving this role,

01:20is to be very strategic when I enter OCR, evaluate the current caseload, evaluate where we are in the life of the complaints,

01:28look at the staff distribution, look at the organizational structure,

01:31and help the Secretary come up with a very strategic plan for how we ensure that OCR is able to meet its mission

01:38and its statutory purpose to prioritize all complaints.

01:41I spent a lot of time when I was in the private sector as an entrepreneur and a business person.

01:45Usually when you lay out a plan and you see that you have half the resources that you used to have

01:50and you had a hard time keeping up in the old days, it's not good.

01:55Let me just go to the Retirement Savings for Americans Act.

01:59Mr. Aronowitz, more than 50 million workers, including gig economy, small business workers,

02:10don't have access to employer-sponsored retirement plans.

02:15I think no worker should be left behind in this.

02:18That's why we've introduced a bipartisan Retirement Savings for Americans Act with Senator Tillis

02:25to allow all workers to contribute savings to a federal retirement account.

02:28The bill also allows the federal government to make matching contributions for lower-income workers.

02:33Mr. Aronowitz, if confirmed, would you commit to working with us to pass the Retirement Savings for Americans Act?

02:40I commit.

02:41Great. You don't even know it. I love that.

02:44I appreciate that.

02:45And if confirmed, how do you plan to use your time at EBSA to help retirement become more accessible for more workers, for all workers?

02:55I want to unlock the potential of the employee benefit system, including innovative type of plans,

03:02like association health plans, ICRAs, and pooled employer plans.

03:07I want to work with Congress on anything that will allow independent contractors to have the dignity of retirement savings and health security.

03:16Great. I appreciate that.

03:17And I won't ask this question, but Chairman Cassidy and I both, I am dyslexic.

03:24He knows more about dyslexia than I do.

03:27But I do think that early literacy is something that we can all agree, that it's something we can make huge progress on.

03:34So the administration is trying to cut funding, terminated, I think, 60, almost two-thirds of the people, you know,

03:43at the Institute of Educational Sciences, which administers this assessment.

03:47So I just want to urge you not to answer a question, but make sure that we get those resources where they can do good,

03:54because this is something we know how to fix.

03:55We know how to, we've made so many advances.

03:59So, anyway, thank you.

04:02Yield back.

04:03Thank you, Senator Hickenlooper.

04:04Thank you all.

04:06Thank you for being here today.

04:08For any senator wishing to ask additional questions, questions for the record will be due at 5 p.m. tomorrow, June 6th.

04:14The committee stands adjourned.

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