Chris Dodd: “It was 200 years ago this year that Thomas Jefferson said that any nation that ever expects to be ignorant and free…”

“It was 200 years ago this year that Thomas Jefferson said that any nation that ever expects to be ignorant and free expects what never was and never possibly can be. Here we are, gathered in this great Chamber at the outset of the 21st century and we are arguing whether we can afford to give those who are the wealthiest in our society a little bit less of a tax cut than they otherwise might be getting in order to see to it that a significant majority of our young people get the opportunity of a higher education which they are being denied, not because they lack the drive or determination or absolute desire to acquire the skills necessary to improve the quality of their lives and the lives of all of us in this country but because they lack the means. What I hear my colleague saying is the total amounts are going up. What has not gone up is the amount of money we provide to each student. Because of a declining economy--and we are talking about families here with incomes of $15,000 a year or less who qualify for Pell grants--we have seen a growing number of families and a growing number of students who want to go on and get a higher education. In 1975, Pell grants paid for somewhere around 80 percent of a college education.”