Tom Harkin

It would be a great loss if we couldn't have her this--give her this opportunity to get an education.

By law, the Federal Government must by February 1...make known what the Pell grant awards will be for the next school year.

So if there is nothing else, thank you very much, panel.

We are moving toward better school feeding programs, more fruits and vegetables in our school lunch programs.

I don't care what party they are. Every President that I have known since Jimmy Carter, and I have been there since Carter.

I have always been a very strong proponent of what has been called earmarks.

We have failing schools, but we also have achievement gaps.

Earlier in my statement, I mentioned that Social Security is one of the most successful Government programs ever created, and the reason for that is we keep the elderly out of poverty.

That is all changing. By 2014, by the time we phase this all in, first of all, people will not be locked into a job.

It would create a tremendous challenge for them.

We have an obligation to meet, and we are going to do everything we can to meet that obligation.

Well, I think all of us now can see from the testimony of all these witnesses that there are profound effects on what we do in Washington and how we shepherd and dispense with our taxpayers' dollars.

The Federal programs that we all depend upon in some way are complemented by efforts at the State level and the private sector.

But to cut the budget by taking job opportunities away from the poorest Iowans is bad math and in some ways just plain mean.

The President of the United States cannot spend one nickel of taxpayers' dollars except for what the Congress gives him the authority to do.

It is simply a cascading effect on not only accessibility, but also on success of the students.

Some of the proposals are to make drastic cuts in that, which then would reduce the amount of money in the Pell grant program.

I hope to have that through our committee around Easter time.

Thank you, Senator, for this opportunity to testify and for you walking with the poorest members of our society.

House Republicans want to roll back Federal funding to fiscal year 2008 levels.

We continue to make prudent investments in education, infrastructure, and biomedical research--the things that will help us, as President Obama put it in his State of the Union address, 'to win the future.'

But to just whack it by 50 percent? I don't think so.

We have fought hard in Congress to retain the right and to retain what is a constitutional obligation to direct monies to certain things.

WIA efforts clearly have positive results. But Federal funding levels are too low to meet the need.

The Affordable Care Act plays an important role for families' financial security.