Amy Klobuchar: “I want to thank Senators Harkin, Warren, and Durbin for their leadership on the important issue of student debt. In the…”

“I want to thank Senators Harkin, Warren, and Durbin for their leadership on the important issue of student debt. In the United States we all appreciate the value of education. We know it leads to higher paying jobs, and we know it leads to better health and even longer lives. Education gives everyone in this country a fair shot. My grandpa never graduated from high school. He worked 1,500 feet underground in the mines in Ely, MN. He saved money in a coffee can in the basement so he could send my dad to college. My dad went to a community 2-year college and then went on to the University of Minnesota, where he earned his journalism degree. He went from those hard-scrabble mines in Ely, MN, on to a journalism career where he got to interview everyone from Mike Ditka to Ronald Reagan to Ginger Rogers. My mom taught second grade until she was 70 years old. I still run into people who tell me what a great teacher she was. And here I stand, a U.S. Senator, the granddaughter of an iron ore miner, the daughter of a teacher and a newspaperman, and the first woman elected to this job from my State. One thing I know for sure: It would not have been possible without education. It would not have been possible without my parents, my grandparents, and my teachers, who believed in me and believed in the value of education. I still remember getting into college.…”