John Tierney: “assuming that my colleague has no other speakers, I yield myself such time as I shall consume. I just want to, Mr.…”

“assuming that my colleague has no other speakers, I yield myself such time as I shall consume. I just want to, Mr. Speaker, highlight the point that the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) finished with in her remarks. If this bill is enacted, that she was talking about, H.R. 609, which, in fact, redistributes the campus-based aid formula, these very States that we are trying to help today, this afternoon, would be harmed. If it was enacted and those funds were redistributed without adding additional funds to protect schools that now receive assistance under that provision, Louisiana would lose almost $1.2 million in work study funds under the plan. Alabama would lose $1.3 million. Mississippi would lose nearly $2.5 million in work study. So almost $4.5 million in all the three campus-based aid programs. This clearly does not make sense. Rearranging the deck chairs on a sinking ship is not going to save that ship from going down. In higher education, we have a tremendous obligation now to have more children take advantage of college and graduate. It used to be a high school education was enough to catapult a son or daughter into the middle class. We all know today that that is not enough any longer, that we really need to encourage 2 to 4 years beyond high school; and in doing that, campus-based aid plays a very significant and important role.…”