Political Quotes

“as a cosponsor of the Reed amendment, I want to explain why the Senate should restore $35 million to the State Student Incentive Grant [SSIG] program. First, SSIG funds go directly to the students, not to Federal bureaucrats or administrators. One hundred percent of these funds go to the students. Second, SSIG grants go to those who need them most: the median family income for SSIG recipients is $12,000--well below the Federal poverty level for a family of four. Third, because every Federal dollar directly leverages State education dollars, each additional Federal dollar may make the difference whether another student gets the chance to go to college. In many States SSIG grants truly make or break a student's chance to go to college. Fourth, at a time when costs are limiting access to higher education, we must do everything we can to give every student the opportunity to go to college. I was an early supporter of tax credits to help middle-class families pay the cost of higher education, and this program is just as crucial for the most needy students. This program is especially important for Oregon. In the 1995-97 period, the SSIG Program made the difference for 49,400 students in Oregon, with an average grant of $1,060. SSIG helped account for 5-percent of the funding for the Oregon Need Grant program. And there are more than 16,700 students who did not receive the grant because of underfunding.”