Political Quotes

“Mr. President, it is an honor to stand here with a chorus of my colleagues speaking about an issue that goes to the core of the idea of this country; that is, every generation will be better than the one before. It is the idea that in this Nation we should lead globally in enriching the lives of our citizenry. The Presiding Officer and I talked a few seconds ago. He said he was going home after this to put his kids to bed. I hope the Presiding Officer doesn't mind me sharing that. I know the Presiding Officer is going to teach his kids the same thing my parents taught me: Work hard and play by the rules so you can go to college and try to achieve your dreams. When I have traveled all over the State of New Jersey--North Jersey and South Jersey, from urban towns to suburban towns and even rural towns--I have heard the same kind of frustration, which is the rising costs of college. Not only that, I see more and more people who try to take on the challenge of paying for those rising costs and find themselves saddled with staggering debt. The facts reflect the sentiments, frustrations, concerns, and anguish that I hear. Today the average student graduates from college with around $29,000 in loans. That is up from an average of $27,600 in 2011 and $23,792 in 2010. In fact, right now in New Jersey 16 percent of my constituents are carrying student debt. That is over 1 million New Jerseyans who are weighed down by this significant financial obligation.…”