Joe Baca: “I strongly support restoring the current language, and I think it is important, but I am in opposition to H.R. 1992.…”

“I strongly support restoring the current language, and I think it is important, but I am in opposition to H.R. 1992. Madam Speaker, all of us strongly support distance learning, but I am very much concerned about the monies it will take away from our colleges, our universities, and our students who attend them. I think, as the individual just talked about right now, many individuals are taking advantage of the loans and the opportunities. Why are they taking advantage of them? They have an opportunity to take 12 hours or more, and the equivalencies are there, so students are going to do that. As we see the increase of our student population, we do not see the increase in funding of the pie. It is important that the funding in that pie be the equivalency. We have not increased it. We have seen the crises that are here today that are affecting us right now. Education is a high priority for all of us. But are we putting the additional dollars to assure that every student has access to it? No, we are not. I want to make sure that our colleges, our universities, and the individuals who are attending them have an opportunity to receive the funding that is there. I am also concerned about the digital divide between those who have computers and those who do not. Many individuals do not have access to our computers. I believe that every student should have the ability to be able to have computers and access.”