Lynn C. Woolsey: “you do not have to be a baseball fan to be familiar with those famous words of Yogi Berra, ``It is like deja vu all over…”

“you do not have to be a baseball fan to be familiar with those famous words of Yogi Berra, ``It is like deja vu all over again.'' Why are we back here on the House floor for a second time to consider bills to reauthorize teacher education and graduate education in the Higher Education Act? The House has already passed these bills. It is time to move forward. It is time to address the real needs of students. Those real needs are to make higher education more accessible and more affordable. College tuition and college tuition fees have increased by almost 30 percent over the last 3 years. At State schools last year, 49 of the 50 States increased tuition. The average student debt is now almost $19,000, up 66 percent since 1997. Nearly half of all working postsecondary students work more than 25 hours a week in order to afford to stay in school. What solutions do my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have for American students? They bring back for the second time two perfectly fine bills that the House has already passed and that do nothing to make college more affordable. What they do not bring to this House floor is H.R. 4283, which would reauthorize the student loan programs. Well, it is not hard to understand why my colleagues do not want a public debate on that bill. H.R. 4283 freezes through the year 2011 the maximum Pell grant, the greatest source of postsecondary funding for low-income students.”