Political Quotes

“Mr. President, we are still here. We have not gotten much of a response from our colleagues on the other side of the aisle about our legislation that would help students throughout America pay their tuition costs and pay a reasonable amount of interest on their loans. I don't know what my colleagues are waiting for. We all know the crisis in America. College has become more and more important. To many, it is a necessity, and it has become more and more expensive. That equation is not only hurting the kids who go to college, it is hurting their families and hurting this country. When the percentage of people who graduate from college declines vis- a-vis other nations, that is a very bad sign for America. We can talk about the problems of quality in our K 12 schools, and those are important issues, but our higher education system is still rating just about the best in the world. That is shown by the fact that hundreds of thousands from around the world, including places such as China and India, apply to our schools, come here and attend. It is a shame we send them back even if they want to stay, but that is an immigration issue not an education issue. Our schools are great, and the big problem with higher education in America is not quality--although, of course, it could be made better-- it is affordability. It is not the same as K 12. Yet here we are, sitting here, and the other side is in a certain sense twiddling their thumbs and making it worse.…”