we had generals and admirals who were coming to Congress and saying these payday loans are destroying our military families and that is unacceptable.

Corporations may be turning their backs on their workers, but that does not mean that the American Government should do the same.

the daunting prospect of the pathway through higher education... might affect... the way they pursue their high school studies.

If you go through the doors of that schoolhouse and you work hard, you can do just about anything here in America.

So if we are caught in a set of policies right now that are accentuating inequality, we must still recognize that we are here in a democracy where people can vote for changes.

The cost of college has risen compared to a working wage. That then has not been compensated for by Pell grants.

I think that tells you that there is something wrong with the banking system as it is operating today.

The best-off are the job creators, so if we concentrate wealth with the job creators, we will have more jobs.

We can do better than this, and you have given us some great ideas to work with.

We know that this country can afford to do for this generation and subsequent generations what it did to create the greatest middle class the world has ever known: Make college a public good again.

we are making it far more expensive to get that education.

Let me also ask that the record remain open for 1 week for additional statements and questions from Members.

So one idea we have been pursuing--and Senator Warren has been in the forefront of this--is enabling folks to refinance their higher-interest loans to a lower interest.

refinancing student debt should be a no-brainer.

When I was Speaker of the House in Oregon, we passed a law that limited the payday loan interest rates down to about 36 percent, which sounds like a lot, but they were charging well in excess of 500 percent.

This trend of increasing inequality is diminishing not only our economic strength but also our working families' trust in our political system.

This is a very huge predatory practice that as a society you would think that we would be able to get control over, but we do not have control over it yet.

Mr. President, I would like to announce that the Committee on Indian Affairs will meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, September 17, 2014, in room SD-628 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, at 2:30 p.m., to conduct a…