College Cost Reduction Act Of 2007

Floor Speech

COLLEGE COST REDUCTION ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - July 11, 2007)

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(Ms. CLARKE asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. CLARKE. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I rise today to give my enthusiastic support to the College Cost Reduction Act of 2007, H.R. 2669. I want to thank Chairman Miller for his leadership in this matter.

In the advent of the 21st century, the question we must ask ourselves is, what have we done to ensure the success of our Nation, the development of our civil society? Education has been and will always be the portal for our advancement.

The cost of attending college has increased by 40 percent over the past 5 years. As a result, students are graduating with more debt than ever and postponing enrollment or avoiding college all together because they just can't afford it. This legislation is a much-needed sigh of relief for traditional college students, working families and adult learners in my home district in Brooklyn, New York, and across this Nation.

The College Cost Reduction Act cuts interest rates in half on subsidized student loans over the next 5 years, increases the amount of Federal loans available to students, and so I ask your enthusiastic support for this groundbreaking legislation.

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Ms. CLARKE. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall 613, the final passage of the College Cost Reduction Act, a bill I am proud to have been helpful in crafting, I was unavoidably detained. If I had been present, I would have proudly voted ``aye.''

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