SPECIAL ORDER ON THE FLINT, MICHIGAN, WATER CRISIS

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I thank Congresswoman Watson Coleman for her leadership in coordinating this Special Order, and thank you to the Michigan Representatives who have been working so hard to try to respond to this tragedy.

Madam Speaker, there will be a lot of investigations designed to find out what happened, whose fault it was, whether or not any crimes were committed, and how to prevent this from happening in the future, but there is one thing we know, and that is that children have been poisoned by lead exposure.

As the ranking member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, we have begun the process to determine how to appropriately respond, because we know that lead poisoning creates severe challenges to the public school system.

Children are entitled to an equal educational opportunity. That goes back to the Brown v. Board of Education case where the Court found that it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if denied the opportunity of an education. That opportunity is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.

The local, State, and Federal governments have all failed our children, allowing them to be poisoned by lead exposure. We owe it to our children to mitigate, to the extent possible, the adverse effects of lead poisoning so they can achieve an equal educational opportunity.

Research already shows that the adverse effects of lead exposure are great due to decreased academic attainment, increased need for special education, higher likelihood of behavioral challenges, and it can result in a significant loss in earnings and tax revenues, additional burdens to the criminal justice system, and great stress on our hospital systems.

The opportunity for a strong start to a successful life will be stunted for Flint's children if they are not given the necessary resources including early interventions and access to high-quality early learning programs such as Head Start to help them overcome the lifelong effects of exposure to lead.

We have an obligation to provide these resources--and provide them as soon as possible--while they can be most effective. Current funding, however, only allows 20 percent of Flint children who are eligible for Head Start to actually attend.

The children who are able to participate in Head Start can receive early screening services for developmental disabilities. Families can receive counseling and assistance in accessing services. Head Start can provide the Flint families affected by the disaster with early intervention services that they desperately need. But in order to do so, all families eligible for Head Start--not just the 20 percent presently participating--need to be able to access Head Start. We need to come up with the money to make that possible.

But make no mistake; we should not expect the fix to this crisis to be easy or cheap. The impact of lead exposure on young children is long-lasting, and our response must have a long-term approach. We must use all of the tools available to us, starting with prenatal care and screenings for pregnant moms, early intervention to identify special education needs, title I funding from ESEA, after-school programs, and even investments in college access efforts.

Our children's futures have been compromised by bad government decisions, but we know how to mitigate that damage. The response has to bemore than just the infrastructure improvements and repairs to finally provide clean water. We need a comprehensive response. Members of the Committee on Education and the Workforce will be working to formulate the appropriate response to the educational challenges. Other committees will work to the responses within their jurisdictions. But one thing is certain: it is imperative that these resources be provided now, without delay.