Heidi Alexander: “That is the FAFSA. This is the document that 20 million Americans fill out every year. We know how to reduce it. It is…”

“That is the FAFSA. This is the document that 20 million Americans fill out every year. We know how to reduce it. It is the biggest impediment to minority students going to college today. We are ready to pass it. Eight million minority students fill this out. The president of the Southwest Community College from Memphis tells me he loses 1,500 students a semester because of the complexity of that. There are other provisions in this package, which include the Portman-Kaine provision for short-term Pell grants sponsored by about 20 Senators, many of them Democrats; the provision for Pell grants for prisoners who are eligible for parole; an increase in the number of Pell grants; an increase in the amount of Pell grants. All of that is in this package that I have offered, but it starts with permanent funding for historically black colleges. Since there is time until October 1 of next year, the Department of Education has said that there is plenty of Federal funding for all of those institutions. There is no reason we can't agree to my package today, send it over to the House of Representatives, send it to the President, and let all of these institutions know they don't have to worry about funding permanently instead of just for 2 years. So, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be discharged from further consideration of S. 2557 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.…”