Conference Report on H.R. 1777, Student Success Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. DeSAULNIER. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I want to say what a pleasure it is to be here to support the Every Student Succeeds Act, having spent much of my first year in the district going to school districts and schools.

And I will be able to go back in the coming weeks and say that we have this bipartisan compromise through the hard work of Chairman Kline and Ranking Member Scott and Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray. So I congratulate and thank them for their hard work.

I am also pleased to see that a number of priorities I share with my Democratic and Republican colleagues were included in the final version of the landmark bill.

The conference report for Every Student Succeeds Act sets national education standards that ensure all American students, regardless of geography, socioeconomic status, race, or gender, receive a quality education.

Included in the bill are several measures that I am proud to have worked on with colleagues which are meant to protect students. I am pleased that a number of them, such as promoting efficient and effective Head Start programs, protecting student athletes from concussions, and providing students with academic and extracurricular support beyond the normal school day, which we know is important, were included.

While the concussion-related provisions of the bill are an important first step, it does not go far enough to combat the devastating physical and neurological impacts of brain injuries like those we recently heard about sustained by Hall of Fame football player Frank Gifford. There is a demonstrated need for increased vigilance and improved education on this important topic, and I look forward to working with my colleagues on this and other issues.

Again, I want to thank the chairman and the ranking member, and I urge all my colleagues to support this very important piece of legislation.

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