Providing for Consideration of H.R.3010, Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 3010, DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006 -- (House of Representatives - June 23, 2005)
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Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, of the many reasons to vote against this measure, one of the most significant is its failure to address the "opportunity deficit." Yes, this administration's many failures are reflected in the budget deficit and the trade deficit, but I am even more concerned about the "opportunity deficit."
When students cannot develop their God-given potential to its fullest extent, we have an "opportunity deficit." When our community cannot benefit from the talents of those students unable to get a higher education, we have an "opportunity deficit." By failing to increase the amount of federal financial assistance to let all students get the full extent of educational opportunity, this measure today deepens the "opportunity deficit."
Freezing Perkins loans, freezing work-study financing for all of those students who want to work, freezing Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants, and virtually freezing Pell grants demonstrate that these Republicans are putting higher education on ice for too many students. This administration gives students a cold shoulder, as they have by freezing Pell grants in the past, in not addressing the rising tuition rates across the country.
Our students at UT-Pan American, South Texas College, Austin Community College, and Huston-Tillotson University depend on Pell grants, but the purchasing power of Pell grants has shrunk to historic lows. The purchasing power of Pell grants, which once covered half of tuition and fees, is down to a historic low, now only covering a fourth of tuition and fees.
In his budget President Bush proposed a Pell Grant increase of, finally, a pittance, $100: enough to buy a chemistry textbook, almost. But this bill cuts that pittance in half. That is not enough for a textbook. It is not even enough to pay for the increased cost of gas, another failure of this administration, to get to class for a week.
I believe we need to do more to support our young people, to support our future by giving them the financial assistance that they need; and this bill, like the entire approach of this administration, from pre-kindergarten to postgraduate education, fails to address that "opportunity deficit."
For those who can still afford to attend school, we are saddling that generation with a burden of debt, much like the burden of debt in the public sector. We are not investing adequately in our future or in our students. Students are facing a mountain of debt after graduation that this bill does not address. Let us close the "opportunity deficit" and reject this measure.
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