Bill Barrett: “I rise in support of Mr. McKeon's amendment to authorize the establishment of the National Commission on the Cost of…”

“I rise in support of Mr. McKeon's amendment to authorize the establishment of the National Commission on the Cost of Higher Education, and provide it with $650,000 in funding. It is important to note, of course, that Mr. McKeon fully offsets the funding for this new Commission by rescinding $849,000 from the Federal Family Education Loan Program account. We should also note that the House has actually already cleared an authorization for this Commission with passage, under suspension of the rules this past Tuesday, of H.R. 914, the Higher Education Technical Amendments. Normally, I'm not thrilled with the idea of commissions as I said last Tuesday, in this case, the fact that the Commission has to provide Congress with its findings within 4 months, means Congress will have an opportunity to review its recommendations during our consideration of the Higher Education Act. As I indicated earlier, since 1980, the cost of 4-year public colleges and universities has increased by 234 percent, and tuition at private 4-year institutions has risen more than 8 percent annually. Yet the causes for these increased tuition costs, and whether Federal policies or programs contribute to these increases, are very complex and deserve study. Parents and students deserve to know what can be done by colleges and universities, States, and the Federal Government, to help bring these costs under control, before the dream of going to college slips away from our best and brightest.”