Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (NY-28) announced that the Rochester City Schools have been awarded a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to support an enhanced history curriculum for students in Kindergarten through second grade.

Funding will go towards the district’s project “Growing Up in America: A Historical Journey.” The project will conduct afterschool workshops for 300 teachers training them to think like historians over the next 5 years.

“A thorough understanding of what it means to be an American, and what that journey entails, is so important to prepare our children for their future success,” said Slaughter. “They must understand where they’ve come from to know where they are going. I am so pleased that this investment will arm Rochester teachers with the knowledge and skills to prepare our next generation of leaders.”

Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (NY-28) praised passage of legislation improving airline safety nearly a year and a half since the Continental Connection Flight 3407 tragedy.

By a voice vote, the House passed the safety provisions as part of HR 5900, the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act, late on Thursday night. The legislation now goes to the Senate and is expected to be taken up tomorrow.

Slaughter’s remarks from the House floor are available below.

Video of Slaughter on the floor is available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-soRfxI0Ho

Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (NY-28), Congressman Chris Lee (NY-26), and Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-27) announced that the safety provisions championed by the families of Flight 3407 will be linked to the noncontroversial FAA extension bill, virtually assuring their passage by August 1.

Chairman of the House Transportation Committee James Oberstar of Minnesota announced that the safety provisions would be attached to a noncontroversial bill that is required for the FAA to continue its operations. FAA extensions have in the past passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.

It was the effort of the families and local lawmakers that pushed to include the permanent safety measures in a bill that lawmakers were confident could be signed into law in the coming week.

“The lessons we learned about regional airline industry training and standards have been shocking, not only for Western New Yorkers but for the millions of Americans who step onto an airplane each day. We needed strong, meaningful and timely legislation to make sure tragedies like the crash of flight 3407 never happen again and I’m delighted that day will finally come,” said Slaughter, Chairwoman of the House Rules Committee. “I want to thank the families who we’ve worked with time and time again in Washington for their heroic work to make this possible. After more than a year, we’ll finally be able to stand together and make these long overdue safety provisions the law of the land.”

Congresswoman Louise M. Slaughter (NY-28) unveiled a large and unique collection of documents and letters from former President Franklin D. Roosevelt that soon will be on display at the Franklin D. Roosevelt library in New York.

The collection, known as the Grace Tully papers after Roosevelt’s longtime secretary who maintained them, is set to transfer from a private collection to the government so all Americans can study and better understand this historic presidency.  The collection was made public as a result of legislation that Slaughter introduced and was signed into law this year.

“I’m delighted that these documents are coming home where they belong,” said Slaughter. “Being even a small part of this has been an honor for me. My father told me he’d walk 15 miles to vote for President Roosevelt. It took an act of Congress and the signature of a President but now Americans will be able to gain greater insight into the thoughts, actions and the tremendous compassion showed by one our nation’s greatest Presidents.”

House Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter this week called on President Obama to hold off on any effort to bring the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to Congress. In the letter, Slaughter and other the members called the Korea FTA as negotiated by President George W. Bush and carried along by President Obama, “another NAFTA-style FTA that we simply cannot support in its current form.” The letter charges that the FTA in present form would undermine the auto, beef, and textile sectors still emerging from the devastating effects of the recession.