I thank the gentleman for yielding time. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 471, this legislation that would reauthorize the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. This program was created in 2004 with bipartisan support. This…

What we have now is a spike that frankly was, in my judgment, horribly over-promised.

the high school dropout rate even nationwide is pretty staggering.

the workplace is changing. And that is part of what is behind our whole effort here in these hearings

It has become even more important to ensure young adults have the tools necessary to stand out in this competitive job market.

Because I believe that local communities, institutions of higher education and businesses should be able to work together in the most beneficial way possible for all parties involved, my subcommittee remains focused on examining the…

Understanding the challenges and opportunities facing local communities is critical to ensuring Washington does not stand in the way of growth and prosperity.

One of my top priorities in Congress is to ensure that our young people and non-traditional students have access to an affordable and internationally competitive education.

Pell Grants have had pretty strong bipartisan support for years and years.

We are, frankly, on an unsustainable path right now, where we're borrowing 42 cents on every dollar that we spend.

Pell grant money has more than tripled here in just a couple of years, from $12 billion to over $40 billion.

We can't continue to chase that every increasing tuition and fees cost with more and more federal dollars that we don't have.