Political Quotes

“I am prepared to close, and I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, there are many challenges we have in higher education that demand our attention: the rising costs of higher education, the student debt crisis, the eroded value of the Pell grant, and mental health issues. The list goes on. Instead of addressing these challenges, we are trying to force through a resolution that hurts tens of millions of student borrowers and their families, an average of almost 100,000 in each of our districts. Many of my colleagues on the other side have justified this resolution by arguing that we can't afford it, but it is just a matter of priorities. Congressional Republicans are willing to charge taxpayers more than twice as much for a tax package where 80 percent of the benefits were scheduled to go to the top 1 percent and corporations, but now they are unwilling to invest half that amount to help student borrowers pay for their education. We should be passing proposals that meaningfully support borrowers and make college more affordable for current and future borrowers. The bottom line is that it is our responsibility to strengthen the support for those seeking a college degree because those who want a college degree should be able to access that opportunity. That opportunity should not be reserved for just the wealthy few. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose H.J. Res. 45, and I yield back the balance of my time.”