Date: 2007-07-11
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I want to thank all of the members of the committee for their work on this legislation on both sides of theaisle. I certainly want to thank the staff as we finish general debate. Mr. Speaker. we said when we gained the majority in this Congress that we wanted to take America in a new direction. This legislation. in fact. does that. For 6.8 million students who take out needbased loans. this legislation will allow for cutting the interest rate in half over the next 5 years for those students. That will save them almost $4.400 on the average debt that they graduate with. For almost 5.5 million students who rely on a Pell Grant for the basic cost of their education. this means that over the next 4 years that grant will increase by some $500. definitely a new direction. Because what we saw in the past was the Republicans made it more expensive to pay for your student loans. They provided little or no contribution to the Pell Grant over the last 4 or 5 years. That is a new direction. What does it mean to America? It means that we are investing in the students and the talent of the future. It means that these are the young people that will take their talents and provide. the next generation of discovery. the next generation of innovation. the next generation of jobs in America. the next generation of economic activity here at home. Thats the investment that was made by our grandparents back in 1944. in that generation. the first generation.to go to college in such great numbers with. the GI Bill. and thats the investment that we have the bourage and the vision to make in this generation of young people for the" future of this country. Thats what this legislation is about. Its about making sure that the doors of a higher education that every employer tells us is now necessary to come to the American workplace -if you want a career and you want a decent wage and you want to be able to provide for your family. The doors to those higher education institutions. be they community colleges. State colleges. universities or elite universities. however you want to characterize them. that those doors will not be closed to people who are talented and ready and qualified to go to college. This legislation provides the means to ensure their access to help them pay for it and to help them make sure that they dont have to make choices against their best interest because of that debt and later in life that they can choose to go into the professions that serve us as a society. This is a dramatic departure. a dramatic departure from the status quo. a dramatic departure. What the Republicans did. when they had a chance. they had $20 billion. They decided they would help pay for the tax cuts to the wealthiest people in the country. Thats what they did with a big chunk of the money that they took from these excess subsidies. the subsidies that we are taking. a way from the banks. The entitlement program that the banks have today as we stand here will be changed. Yes. it will become an entitlement program for Americas families. Americas students. those most at need in this country. Thats what this Congress ought to be doing. Thats what this society wants us to do. and were going to do it today when we pass this legislation.