Date: 2009-05-13
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman. and Members of the House. the 21st Century Grebn HighPerforming Public School Facilities Act is exactly what the Federal Govdrnment should be doing. � We have seen now over the last year. and in some cases a little longer. and for the foreseeable future. that the tax resources of local school districts. cit . ies. and counties have plummeted because of the foreclosure crisis that confronts this Nation and because of the financial scandals and the financial collapse of our institutions across this Nation. We have seen that credit is not available. The .school districts that have voted for bonds have had difficulty in getting those bonds to market so that they can engage in the construction. And we see. in fact. the backlog of repairs to schools. renovations. modernizations of schools and school facilities is starting to lag. We also know and we understand that for the foreseeable future. unemployment will continue to go up in this country. at a diminished rate. but we still know .half a million people a month are losing their jobs. Auto sales are down because American families are trying to save morebecause 6f the recession. the depression we are in. They ard trying to take care of their needs. so school districts are denied those resources as are States. So what the Federal Government is doing In this time of emergency is trying to say that we will join with you in a partnership based upon the priorities of locally elected school boards. of superintendents of schools. for the repair and restoration of schools that are sb necessary in so many areas of this country. If a school board or ii a school district doesnt need the money. they need not take it. We hope that they wouldnt because maybe it can go to another school district that might need it more. But the fact of the matter is. these repairs and restorations. and if we use green technology and use the guidelines of the green standards. not only can repair and restore these schools. they can make them much more efficient in the use of energy and the use of water and the use of natural daylight so students will have a better learning environment and better opportunities at learning. Yes. the data is pretty darn clear that in those kinds of facilities students do have a better opportunity in learning the material that is presented to them In that environment than they do in an old and rundown facility that is crumbling and bathrooms that are not safe and cant be used and windows that are not replaced: Yes. that may not sound like the local school district that some of you represent. but it sounds like a lot of the local school districts that a lot of us relhresent. and those school districts are doing all that they can. People are voting for bond issuesand paying higher taxes. but the fact of the matter is they dont have sufficient resources to do that. That does not mean that we should just sentence those kids to a secondclass education. to deny them. educational opportunities. because when we do that. we then spill over into the national interest of this country. and that is to make sure that every child receives a firstclass education. that every child at the end of 12 years has the opportunity to choose a career or schools or schools and a career in whatever combination. but they are prepared to do that. And we know from all of the surveys that it is far more difficult for young children to learn in dilapidated. illrepaired. badly restored schools when they are trying to get down the basics of their education. So this is a Federal partnership.. In some cases. local government joins with private sector money to repair and restore schools and provide new technologies. We want to join in part of that. You can say this is the Federal taking over the role. It is not taking over any role. This is insignificant compared to the efforts being made by local governments. We are simply saying we think this can be catalytic in terms of getting some of these projects done at this particular time and for the foreseeable future so that we can ensure our students have an opportunity to do that. E] 1300 I want to thank the foresight of Mr. KILDEE. not only the subcommittee Chair. but .the author of this legislation. Mr. CHANDLER. Mr. LOEBSACK. who worked with local districts. who worked with local schools. who looked at examples of what had been done to make a more efficient use of those local dollars. of Federal dollars. of education dollars. to bring that together and try to build highperforming schools. We want to make the same decisions for these schools that so many in the private sector are making about their renovation. the renewal. the repair of commercial facilities. of facilities throughout our communities where the real estate industry issaving billions of dollars by greening those buildings. where were saving energy. where were saving waterin States like California. those two things are very .importantand providing a safe environment for children. Thats why we should pass this legislation. H.R. 2187 requires local educational agenties to ensure a lull and open competition for qualified bidders. We expect that process to maximize the number of qualified bidders to include. local. small. minorityowned. womenowned. and veteranowned contractors. and to do so without diminishing or precluding the local educational agencies ability to seek out responsible contractors by. for example. requiring contractors to participate in bona fide apprenticeship training programs and to demonstrate other legitimate responsibility and qualification standards. Such requirements can be used to ensure highquality work and successful project delivery as well as foster good -training and employment opportunities in local communities. I would like to yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Nevada. a member of the committee and a strong supporter of this legislation .