Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to decry a provision in this tax bill that would amount to shocking tax increases of thousands of dollars for struggling graduate students by reclassifying their tuition assistance as taxable income. These students provide research and teaching services as work to offset tuition. I mean, we are talking about assistants in the dorms, teaching assistants for undergraduate courses, researchers in laboratories--all who contribute to universities for quite modest stipends and tuition credits to avoid going further into debt and to support themselves while completing their master's degrees and Ph.D.'s. Taxing this so-called income would impose a profoundly negative impact on education. Schools across the country could lose half their current graduate students, and it would diminish the number of students who would even consider graduate school in the future. Mr. Speaker, what is to become of the vital research and development in the fields of medicine and engineering and agriculture and information technology--things that have led to innovation and invention, things that have truly made America great--with this tax provision? An example from my very own alma mater, Marquette University, raises the problems with parents. There is a maintenance mechanic who has three--three, triplets--college-age students. He receives $40,000 of tuition assistance for each of these students. I mean, for real, Mr.…”