Thomas Daschle: “I rise to comment as well on another matter closer to home. It is graduation season. Over the next several weeks, in…”

“I rise to comment as well on another matter closer to home. It is graduation season. Over the next several weeks, in cities and towns in South Dakota and across America, hundreds of thousands of young people will graduate from high school. Parents will tell their graduating sons and daughters, ``I'm proud of you.'' Unfortunately, many parents will also have to tell their children, ``I'm sorry.'' ``I'm sorry that we can't afford to send you to college.'' The novelist James Michener grew up dirt poor in Pennsylvania, but he got a good education. He once told an interviewer, ``I went to nine different universities and never paid a nickel of my own money. My wife got many scholarships. We are children of the United States.'' James Michener was able to graduate from college because America invested in him. In my own case, it was the Air Force ROTC that opened those doors. I was the first person in my family ever to go to college. I worked to pay part of my tuition, and my parents helped; my mother went back to work when I was in high school just to help pay for my college education. Even with all of us pitching in, I still could not have paid for college without help from the United States Government. I am deeply mindful of, and grateful for, the investment America made in me.”