Jeff Merkley

The daunting prospect of the pathway through higher education... might affect... the way they pursue their high school studies.

The cost of college has risen compared to a working wage. That then has not been compensated for by Pell grants.

So if we are caught in a set of policies right now that are accentuating inequality, we must still recognize that we are here in a democracy where people can vote for changes.

Corporations may be turning their backs on their workers, but that does not mean that the American Government should do the same.

We had generals and admirals who were coming to Congress and saying these payday loans are destroying our military families and that is unacceptable.

The only reason that we do not do that and that that kind of reform cannot come through the Senate at this moment is the money in politics problem.

This is a very huge predatory practice that as a society you would think that we would be able to get control over, but we do not have control over it yet.

This trend of increasing inequality is diminishing not only our economic strength but also our working families' trust in our political system.

Reserving the right to object, would the Senator from Wyoming consider modifying that request to include me to follow on, following his remarks?

Thus, carbon dioxide is waging an assault on our rural resources, on our fishing, on our farming, on our forests.

There is no question that carbon dioxide is a terrible pollutant having profound impacts.

This issue really goes to the heart of the American dream because the cost of college is not only affecting those who went and have this debt, but it is affecting the aspirations of our children in high school

One of the individuals who is really helping push the U.S. Senate to address this... is my colleague, Senator Warren.

No Government program can compare to the value of a good living wage job.

That sentiment crushes aspirations because students who absorb that lesson, it is the opposite of what I heard from my working class father which was, Go through those school doors and work hard.

We should be shaping policy to create a fighting chance for everyone.

I feel like if that were true, we would have all the jobs we could possibly want right now since that is where an enormous concentration is, at the very top.

I have heard a number of parents say, I am not sure I should encourage my son or daughter to go to college because I do not want them to suffer from debt the size of a home mortgage.

Thank you all very much for your testimony and touching on so many points that our youth are facing.

The policies we make here in Washington really can be the difference between success and just getting crushed.

This is affecting an entire generation, this is very relevant, and we are going to continue this conversation.

An income-based repayment plan shares the risk. It means if you are unlucky on the other side, if you happen to enter during a recession, that it will not--that there is something about that contract that still gets upheld.

I believe about $9 million was returned to approximately 9,000 individual mortgage holders.

I am delighted that you are patrolling against that predatory practice, and I hope and anticipate that there is a substantial deterrent effect from what you have done.

Well, millions of American homeowners, mortgage holders, will benefit from that action, so thank you.