Supporting H.R. 8472

Floor Speech

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Mr. COURTNEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of swift passage of H.R. 8472, the Impact Aid Coronavirus Relief Act, my legislation with Representative Dusty Johnson to ensure school districts with high numbers of military-connected children are not further financially impacted by the coronavirus's devastation. This bipartisan, bicameral bill would allow school districts to use their last student headcount on upcoming applications for federal Impact Aid rather than conduct a student audit during this highly unusual and disruptive school year, and would eliminate the risk losing funding due to an undercount.

Impact Aid supports school districts that encompass large amounts of federal land such as military installations and tribal land, and ensures they have the resources they need that would otherwise come from local taxes. With this school year's unprecedented complexities, our bill would relieve these districts' already overburdened administrators and staff of one labor intensive requirement, and ensure that they receive the full amount of Impact Aid payments they need to support our military and tribal students.

In my district in Eastern Connecticut, the Ledyard and Groton school districts rely on Impact Aid as a key funding source. As schools are under immense pressure to keep kids learning in new formats this year, these funds are more crucial than ever, and this bill would ensure that schools can count on them.

I thank my counterparts in the Senate for their work to build on the original proposal by including the Migrant Education Program as well, which requires a similar student count. This addition ensures that children of migrant agricultural workers receive the full public education they are entitled to.

Many thanks as well to Chairman Bobby Scott of the Education and Labor Committee for his support of this legislation. I urge the Senate to pass this bill without delay.

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