Lloyd Smucker

I know the Federal Government can also do more to help these students and help the MSI's and community college serve.

Thank you, Madame Chair, and thank you for scheduling this hearing. I thought it was an outstanding hearing.

We need to be striving on both sides of the aisle for new ideas that will increase opportunities for all American students regardless of circumstance.

We must recognize that postsecondary education needs to work for students and not the other way around.

Higher education can help set individuals on the right path to achieve the American dream.

We are all here today because we believe that every American should have the opportunity to pursue post-secondary education.

Great results. What would you recommend as we consider changes to the policy?

Thank you. Dr. DuBois, interested in your comments in regards to expanding the Pell grant funds for shorter term work force programs.

We must recognize that the dollar, the money is an important part of the conversation and institutions need to be willing to take responsibility for the outcomes of their students.

I'm very proud of the opportunities our economic growth will create for the next generation.

Just 58 percent of enrollees graduate in 6 years. Not 4 years 6 years.

Post-secondary education is a vital pathway to good paying jobs and career success and we must work to ensure that this pathway remains available and viable to students of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds.

For far too long, there was a stigma surrounding skills-based education.

This committee must continue working to make skills-based education a valuable path for all Americans.

I have been a strong supporter of the administration's actions to expand apprenticeship programs for all workers.

As the Republican leader on the House Education and Labor, Higher Education and Workforce Investment Committee, we should be focusing on making colleges more affordable and helping more students complete their degrees, not subjecting them…

And I think one of the reasons for that is we have new technologies that have been--we have been able to tap into shale fields and others and extract natural resources, but specifically natural gas, but oil as well from the ground.

I do think there is a difference around the idea of electric vehicles and, you know, sort of the transition.

We have made tremendous progress in that regard, where we are talking today about being a net exporter of energy.

It was mentioned earlier that we want to ensure that everybody can get to play by the same rules.

I think top concern for them was health care.

I certainly believe that those who worked hard all their lives and saved responsibly and have counted on that pension that they were promised deserve to receive that pension.

I just think apprenticeship is a model that begins to solve not only the issues of finding people for jobs, but provides so many great opportunities for people all across the country.

It is a top priority of this committee and a top priority of mine as well.

I thank Mr. Ferguson for his comments. As he mentioned, this is about family-sustaining jobs. Mr. Ferguson has a lot of experience bringing jobs to his town of West Point in Georgia, where he was mayor, creating thousands of new jobs there…