Providing for Further Consideration of H.R. 609, College Access and Opportunity Act of 2005

PROVIDING FOR FURTHER CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 609, COLLEGE ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITY ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - March 30, 2006)

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Ms. McCOLLUM of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, it is with great disappointment today that I rise to voice my opposition to the rule and the underlying bill. Higher education has become more important than ever in ensuring America's economic prosperity, national security, and health. A quality college degree is the cornerstone of the American Dream, opening the doors of opportunity and professional fulfillment.

For decades, the Federal Government has been a partner with States and colleges in creating opportunity and access to college, especially for middle- and lower-income students. But today, just 2 months after the Republicans voted to raid Federal student aid by $12 billion, a vote which passed by only two votes, Republicans once again are pushing through a higher education bill that does not help American families pay for college. Why? Well, it is because the Republican Party is apparently more interested in tax cuts for corporations and for oil companies.

Traditionally, the Higher Education Act has enjoyed widespread bipartisan support. But today, instead of meaningful debate about the future of our students and our country, a debate that would provide accountability and access and opportunity, we find that debate has been blocked by the Republican majority.

The Higher Education Act should be about creating access to vocational training and college for millions of America's students and adults who find themselves having to get reeducated in this tough economy. The reauthorization law should serve as an opportunity to improve the current law and make college more accessible.

Unfortunately, the underlying bill does nothing to make college more affordable, and in fact it raids student aid. And it does this at a time when tuition is rising faster than the rate of inflation; at a time when financial aid for America's families is not keeping up with the rising cost of a college education; and at a time when this Congress will be voting for tax giveaways for the Nation's wealthiest. In other words, as a former teacher, I give this higher education bill a failing grade. And it gets a failing grade because it misses the opportunity to promote students' abilities to afford college and to make America more economically secure.

This dramatic rise in tuition that I spoke about earlier over the past decade can only be explained by our lack of participating and making college more affordable at a Federal level, but also many of our States also get a failing grade for their participation in making higher education affordable for all students. When we put the dream of a college education out of reach for Americans, America suffers. When we put the dream of being able to afford a college education out of reach for Americans, our students suffer.

In the Rules Committee, I offered an amendment, along with Mr. Tierney, that would have presented a real solution to the college affordability issue, offering an achievable goal for the Federal Government to work in partnership with States to have accountability, to provide the opportunity for the American Dream for millions more families. Unfortunately, this opportunity was missed when our amendment was ruled out of order. We would have ensured that students and colleges in my district and districts all over this country would have invested in a competitive fashion in order to make our students and our country more able to compete in the future.

Why has Congress backed away from their future? Well, the answer is simple. Congress backed away because they wanted to take $12 billion that could have been put back into the higher education bill. They raided that $12 billion and gave it to corporations.

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