Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, today's bill, which I am pleased to cosponsor, accomplishes much good. While providing critical support for minority-serving institutions like Huston-Tillotson in Austin, it includes provisions from the bipartisan Student Aid Simplification Act, which I introduced earlier this year. It will assist students in all universities, and it is also mighty important to graduates repaying student debt. I salute the chairman, Mr. Scott, for the work of his committee; College Forward and National College Access Network, who have worked with me on this for months; and, certainly, Senators Murray and Alexander for moving this through the Senate. Too many students find the current Free Application for Federal Student Aid, FAFSA, so complicated and the difficulty of getting all of the financial information required so demanding that they never complete the application. In fact, I was in San Antonio this past weekend. The completion rate there is a mere 35 percent. So $2.6 billion in free money available for student financial assistance goes unclaimed each year. This bill will eliminate up to 22 FAFSA questions and require the Department of Education and IRS to work together and do some of the heavy lifting for the students by sharing the taxpayer information required for FAFSA completion. This means an increase in access to Pell grants and other educational opportunities, especially for first-time students whose parents may work multiple jobs.…”