Providing for Consideration of Conference Report on H.R. 2669, College Cost Reduction and Access Act
Floor Speech
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 2669, COLLEGE COST REDUCTION AND ACCESS ACT -- (House of Representatives - September 07, 2007)
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Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, this is the single largest investment in education since the GI Bill, and we know what the GI Bill did for the World War II generation.
Last month, the American people lost 4,000 jobs under this administration, and foreclosures are rising. The middle class needs relief. And this bill will cut interest rates in half of subsidized student loans over the next 4 years. It will allow borrowers to be able to not pay more than 15 percent on their loans.
In addition, the Pell Grant, something that has helped low income, students, and what all of my students ask about every single time I visit college campuses, will be raised to $490, and over 5 years more than $1,000. And then we will invest in America's most underserved communities, Hispanic-serving, Historically Black, Native Americans and other institutions in which the bill will invest $510 million to help students stay in school among other incentives.
This legislation helps our students graduate. It encourages public service. This bill is worth all of us voting for it. The middle class of America needs relief. This is a giant step forward in educating all Americans.
Ms. SUTTON. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York, a distinguished member of the Education and Labor Committee, Mr. Bishop.
Mr. BISHOP of New York. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, it is difficult for me to summarize in 1 minute the attributes of this first-rate conference report, but let me just say this: For a period of time before I came to the Congress, I was the senior administrator in a college. I had a very simple rule when I was faced with a decision. That rule was: Is the decision I'm about to make in the best interest of students, will it help students? And by that measure, the answer to this question is an emphatic ``yes.''
We should be supporting the rule. We should be supporting the underlying legislation. This legislation helps students realize their dreams, and that's what this Congress should be about. This is about student aspiration, and this is about the Congress providing the resources to see to it that students can get their slice of the American Dream. And by increasing the Pell Grant maximum, by reducing the rate that students will have to pay when they borrow, and by streamlining the needs analysis system so that students have a more realistic measure of their ability to pay, we will increase access, we will enhance affordability.
We should support this rule and support this conference report.
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