Chris Dodd: “I begin by commending our leading sponsors and managers of this legislation, Senator Kennedy and Senator Enzi, for the…”

“I begin by commending our leading sponsors and managers of this legislation, Senator Kennedy and Senator Enzi, for the leadership they provided in working on this important legislation. It is especially important to most American families, because all of us now are beginning to appreciate how expensive it is to receive a higher education--tragically, I point out--and what a higher education can mean to more and more Americans--the quality of life, individual success of our citizenry, but also the collective health of our country as well when we have a well-educated population. I have often quoted the statistic made by Thomas Jefferson more than 200 years ago that: Any nation that expects to be ignorant and free expects what never was and never can be. Certainly as we enter this 21st century of global competitiveness, the children of my State are not just competing with the children of Missouri, the home State of the Presiding Officer, but also competing, obviously, with children from all over the world, from Beijing, Johannesburg, Moscow, New Delhi--everywhere. This is going to be a very different world for children growing up in the 21st century. The extent we provide them with the tools and preparation necessary to compete and succeed under these circumstances--very different from what most of us have grown up with--is going to be extremely important, and the work this body does in the coming days is extremely important.”