Chris Dodd: “I really cannot believe that at this moment in our history we would pass a bill that would not provide help to the many…”

“I really cannot believe that at this moment in our history we would pass a bill that would not provide help to the many, many Americans who need it. Let me also say, because I know we are under time constraints--and I am probably not going to have a chance to have any extended time for discussion of this later--that I will speak briefly on an amendment that I have filed and intend to offer later, to reduce the tax cut package to increase resources for programs designed specifically to assist middle- and low-income families with the cost of higher education--and those are the Hope and Lifetime Learning tax credits and the Pell Grant program. And, I also would have an equivalent amount of resources go to deficit reduction. If we are serious about having this bill contribute to our economic growth, then we ought to dedicate these resources to higher education. I don't need to lecture anyone in the Chamber about the value of providing higher education opportunities for people. Yet, in spite of his rhetoric, the President's fiscal year 2004 budget includes cuts in the maximum Pell Grant available to low-income students, and he would do nothing to expand the Hope and Lifetime Learning credits, which are specifically designed to help middle-income families. Nothing could be more devastating to a family than to discover that they cannot afford to send their son or daughter to college, regardless of their child's talent, determination, or ambition.”