Tom Harkin: “Few individual pieces of legislation embody the spirit of the American dream as does the Higher Education Act. First…”

“Few individual pieces of legislation embody the spirit of the American dream as does the Higher Education Act. First passed in 1965, this legislation opened the doors of college and a more prosperous future to millions of students. Without federal college grants and loans, most Americans would not be able to get the postsecondary education that is essential in today's competitive international economy. The pending legislation--the Higher Education Amendments of 1998-- strengthens our nation's commitment to a higher education and I am pleased to support this important piece of legislation. I congratulate Senators Jeffords, Coats, Kennedy, and Dodd for crafting a genuinely bipartisan bill. I appreciate their leadership and commitment to ensuring access to college for millions of Americans. My colleagues have extolled the many fine features of this legislation--lower interest rates for students, improved teacher preparation programs and a modernization of the system for delivering student aid. I am in full agreement on the positive aspects of this legislation. However, as we all know, legislation involves many compromises and I would feel remiss if I did not also express my disappointment about two provisions in the legislation.”