Date: 2007-09-07
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. I would like to thank the chairman of our subcommittee. RUBiN HINOJOSA. and all of the members of the conference committee for their valuable contributions to this legislation. I would also like to thank Chairman SPRATT. who spoke earlier. for providing the reconciliation process. and all of the work that their staff did to make sure that we complied with the reconciliation process and we complied with the PAYGO rules so that there would be no new costs to this legislation to provide these benefits to students and to their families. And I want. to thank his 4aff. To~m Kahn and Sarah Abernathy and Lisa Venus. I would also like to thank Senator KENNEDY and Senator ENZI for their help and their staffs work with us to have a successful: conference and a conference report on this act. -I - And Id like to thank the Education and Labor Committee staff. Mark Zuckerman. Alex Nock. Stephanie Moore. Denise Forte. Gaby - Gomez. Julie Radocchia. Jeff Appel. Rachel Racusen. Lisette Partelow. Lamont Ivey. Sarah Dyson. Ricardo Martinez and Moira Lenehan of -Representative HINOJOSAS staff. This work could not have happened without the long hours put in by a very diligent. committed legislative counsel. and I want to thank Steve Cope and Molly Lothamer. Given that we must balance our numbers. we appreciate the significance of work provided by the staff at the Congressional Budget Office. including Paul Cullinan. Debb Kalcevic and Justin Humphrey. The Congressional Research Service has been particularly supportive of our efforts. in particular. Adam Stoll. Charmaine Mercer. David Smole. Becky Skinner and Jeff Kuenzi.. I want to thank all of these individuals. and certainly I want to thank the students who. for so many years have tried to get the Congress to respond to their needs and to the needs of their families if they have to borrow money to go to school. to go to school and to achieve a higher education. to achieye the education that that provides. I certainly want to thank USPIRG and the United States Student Association and many others who worked so hard over these past years. We remember just a year ago. just a year ago we were here in the reconciliation process when. $11.9 billion was taken out of this very same account. but rather than to use it for the beiefit of the students. that $11.9 billion went to pay for the tax cuts to the wealthiest people in this country. We took $11.39 billion out of this same account and we gave that to the Pell Grant students. to the most needy students in this country who need it the most. Thats the difference that an election makes. Thats the difference that a year makes. Thats the difference that a lot of hard work by the students across this country and their families have made as theyve asked Members of Congress to address this issue. This legislation. just earlier today. passed in the Senate by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 7912. It has now been stated that the President of the United States supports this legislation and will sign this legislation. I would hope that all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle would understand the importance of this legislation. the value of this legislation to our students and to their families as We know so many of them struggle to put together the means by which they can pay for the college education of the students. 7 One of the.very great. -moments in a parents life is when a student gets. accepted- into college. i.the students announce they want to go to college. and then you immediately start to think about how we are going to pay for this. This legislation will make it a lot easier for a lot of parents and a lot of students who desperately. need this help.. I ask all of my colleagues to support the conference report and lets join this bipartisan coalition and help Americas families and students. I thank everybody for their cooperation.