Political Quotes

“I certainly support the underlying goal of this legislation about making higher education more affordable for our citizens, and I plan to support this legislation to move the process forward because it is an important goal we are after. I know from personal experience the importance of student loans. I am probably one of the few Members of this Chamber that was elected while still paying for student loans. In fact, my wife and I could not have afforded our undergraduate degrees and our graduate degrees without the support of grants and loans, and we were delighted when we were able to pay the loans back a few short years ago. While I support the underlying goal, however, I need to raise concerns about the manner in which we are attacking this issue and some of the substance of the issue. First, the process. This bill has not been allowed to have committee hearings. There has been no opportunity for amendments in committee, and certainly no opportunity for amendments here on the floor. In fact, we have a closed rule, no amendments.”