Have you done any analysis to determine the cumulative impact upon premiums of all the new mandates, taxes, and fees being imposed upon health plans operating in the new health insurance exchanges?

I would hope that you would take a fresh look at that funding formula in light of what I think is the persistent under-funding of the Smokies.

I have long supported establishing a national historic park to protect the Manhattan Project sites.

The Manhattan Project is one of the most significant events in American history.

The budget for FDA includes an unprecedented amount of funds from industry user fees.

I thank the President for his proposal, and I thank Senator Reed for his interest as well.

So the idea would be, in my view anyway, that that would be fair to students. Certainly today, it would be a lower rate than they have today and fair to taxpayers over the long run.

I believe the budget shows that the President understands the importance of education to our Nation's future.

the first reason college costs are up is because of the Medicaid program.

I think lots of Senators would enjoy participating.

I think that's a scenario we also agree on.

Research funding is a core responsibility of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) and I appreciate your recognition of the important role that research plays in reforming and improving teaching and learning.

I think you're terrific. You and I have some disagreements about the extent to which the Federal Government ought to supplant the decisions the State and local governments make.

I'm hopeful that--I mean, I don't put it out of my mind that working with the administration, since this seems to be an area where we agree that we can't get started on that before July 1.

Thank you for the Federal financial aid that has been made available to me and for the opportunity to achieve my dreams in life.

I have a problem with that. When I went to college, I was a have-not.

We look forward to hearing from her about the informed choices that she made as she selected among colleges.

I have a little different view than the chairman. Most of our Federal aid is based upon need.

Why is the cost of college going up? Insofar as public colleges and universities, which is where three out of four students attend, the first reason is the cost of Federal Medicaid mandates.

The amount of the Pell grant average, $3,600, is $500 more than the average cost of attending a community college.

This is all something we have to address in that Higher Education Act bill next year.

I would like to thank Senator Alexander for his support of education in the State of Tennessee.

I like our system of Federal higher education support.

It seems to me that one of the things you need to have to be ready for college or career is financial literacy.

There are a lot of regulations, and, in fact, I do think that they are contributing somewhat to college cost.