New Iran Sanctions

Floor Speech

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Ms. PORTER. In Iran, a dangerous regime is harming its people, stripping them of their rights, and spreading lies to cover it up.

The world must know where we stand.

The Biden administration is leading the way, and I strongly support their newly announced sanctions on some of the world's worst human rights abusers.

These offenders are top-ranking officials in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the regime's right hand in repression. Sanctions also target the IRGC's business enterprise, which has been funding the regime's brutality for decades.

The U.S.' leadership was mimicked by the United Kingdom and European Union. I applaud this unified response from our allies. It is a clear rejection of Iran's violence and a demand for the Iranian people to be heard.

The struggles continue, and we must all remember that ``Woman, Life, Freedom'' is not just a chant. It is a call to action. Clean School Bus Program

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Ms. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak up for California's children, our communities, and our environment.

The vast majority of American schoolbuses run on diesel, a major source of pollution that contributes to the climate crisis. As a result, bus emissions worsen our air quality with significant harm around schools, in residential areas, and within the passenger cabin. This is a serious problem for our environment and our children's health.

The bipartisan infrastructure law that I supported invests in a solution. The Clean School Bus program funds $5 billion for the purchase of electric schoolbuses, improving the air for our kids and our communities.

Electric buses also improve discipline, reduce noise pollution, and give schools budget certainty. They can save school districts up to 80 percent on the cost of fuel, maintenance, and repairs.

However, the Clean School Bus program unfairly targets California. Even though our State has nearly 13 percent of schoolchildren and the second lowest busing rate in the country, ahead only of Mississippi, the law unfairly imposes a 10 percent State cap on the funds.

Even worse, to date, California has only gotten 7.33 percent of the Clean School Bus program funds. Our State leads the Nation in transitioning to electric vehicles and reducing emissions. We need our Federal Government to be a partner in these efforts. California wants to invest in clean buses to take children to school to learn and to grow, but we cannot do it alone.

If America is to be the global leader in transitioning to a clean energy economy, we need to give every State, including California, their fair share of financial support.

The $69.5 million already invested in the Clean School Bus program in California provides some necessary help, but it is not nearly enough to support our densely populated working-class communities, some of which have the worst air quality in the Nation.

I have seen firsthand the tremendous interest in the Clean School Bus program when my office hosted grant workshops with school districts and Tribal communities to share information about these Federal resources for acquiring low- and zero-emission schoolbuses. To meet this moment, we need a coordinated effort from Federal, State, and local entities to make the change.

California needs a leader who will fight to remove unfair roadblocks, such as arbitrary State caps that limit investment in clean technology. I will continue to push for a level playing field for California that invests our Federal tax dollars where the need is greatest and where they can do the most good.

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