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In House floor remarks on Monday, Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA) spoke about education funding.
Transcript
00:00Mr. Speaker, I rise today to tell an
00:07unconvenient truth of what happened to
00:10educational funding that Congress
00:12appropriated that was to go to our
00:14schools. On June 30th, just one day before
00:18seven billion dollars of educational
00:20funding was supposed to be delivered to
00:22our state budgets, the Trump
00:24administration pulled the rug out from
00:27under the schools. No warning, no
00:29explanation. Let me explain something to
00:33you about California. We're a donor state.
00:35That means that the citizens of
00:38California, the taxpayers, send more money
00:40to Washington than we get back every
00:43year. In California, we were supposed to
00:47receive, as I said, nine hundred and twenty
00:50eight million dollars. This was a big blow
00:53to school districts across the country,
00:55but including those that I represent in
00:57the San Joaquin Valley in California.
00:59Fresno Unified, which I represent, was to lose
01:02seven point one million dollars. Visalia
01:05Unified would have lost two million
01:07dollars. Across the San Joaquin Valley
01:09districts were preparing for these
01:10devastating cuts in mental health services,
01:13after school programs, English learners and
01:17migrant students. While the Republicans
01:20stayed silent, my colleagues and I stepped up. We wrote to the Trump administration, demanded answers, and put pressure on them to act. Well, they finally listened. And because it's clear, this didn't happen on its own. It happened because we put pressure on them.
01:37Now the money is flowing, and I hope it's the entire seven billion dollars that goes to our schools throughout the country. And let's make sure that we know where it first happened. It happened when the flood of phone lines started going to my colleagues here in Washington. I'm going to, and my colleagues will continue to fight for every student, every family, and every school in America, including those in the San Joaquin Valley that I represent.
01:42I'm going to, and my colleagues will continue to fight for every student, every family, and every school in America, including those in the San Joaquin Valley that I represent.

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