Providing For Consideration Of H.R. 2669, College Cost Reduction Act Of 2007

Floor Speech

PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2669, COLLEGE COST REDUCTION ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - July 11, 2007)

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Ms. CASTOR. I thank my colleague, Ms. Sutton from Ohio, who is a true fighter for education reform for the working families of Ohio and all Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly support the College Cost Reduction Act under this rule, as we are charting an historic new investment in our students and our communities.

All Americans should salute the leadership of Chairman George Miller and Speaker Nancy Pelosi for their leadership in education and this single largest investment in higher education since the 1944 GI Bill.

Chairman Miller, on behalf of the students, colleges and universities in the State of Florida, I thank you for your dedication. And we also thank you in the State of Florida because you worked tirelessly with me and my colleague from the Rules Committee, Mr. Hastings, to ensure that students from States like Florida that have low tuition and low State support have access to additional need-based aid.

Passage of this act will increase access to college by making it more affordable. The cost of higher education in this country has skyrocketed over recent years. Thousands of students are left with overwhelming debt after graduation due to higher student loan rates and declining financial aid. Some may not make it to the college classroom at all because it has become so cost prohibitive.

In Florida, the average debt after college is more than $18,000 per student. But in America, no young person with a desire to learn should be barred from moving on to college due to financial hurdles, and this act removes many of those hurdles today. The College Cost Reduction Act cuts student loan interest rates in half and increases Pell Grants by at least $500 per student over the next 5 years. In the State of Florida alone, Federal loan and Pell Grant aid will increase by $762 million that will benefit over 340,000 students. In my home area, the Tampa Bay area, we have the ninth largest university in the country in the University of South Florida, over 40,000 students in that university. In addition, there is the University of Tampa, the Hillsborough Community College, Manatee Community College and St. Petersburg College. So let the message go forth to those students and those families that help is on the way, that they will not have to struggle with those higher student loan interest rates; they can depend on a little more help when it comes to the Pell Grant.

This bill also acknowledges that some high school students need a little extra help to be college ready, particularly students who may be the first in their family to attend college. We're going to keep these students on track to go to college and stand up for them and protect Federal dollars for their success.

We owe a debt of gratitude to the gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Bobby Scott, because he offered an amendment to this bill to maintain the Upward Bound program. I am proud to support his amendment which is contained in this bill that nationwide will protect the Upward Bound program.

In my hometown of Tampa, this means standing up for those students I met on Monday. I met with students at the great Middleton High School in Tampa. Jasmyn Hendricks and Clifton Tyson are students in the Upward Bound program at the University of South Florida.

Imagine a high school student that takes 20 Saturdays out of their life to learn about what it means to go to college, and then they spend their summers there, too. They are typically the first ones in their family to go to college. And we know that if they achieve their high school diploma, they will have a higher salary; but if they achieve their college degree, they are set up for success in life, and our communities benefit.

Jasmyn said to me, as her eyes welled up with tears, that before Upward Bound, I knew I wanted to pursue higher education, but there was no way. Jasmyn considers her Upward Bound program her second family. She said, There was no money. I just couldn't see a way for me to get to college after high school. Then Upward Bound comes along and introduces us to the fact there are college scholarships, grants and help.

Clifton, who is an athlete, said that he used to see sports as his only avenue to college; but since starting at Upward Bound, he now says sports is his second gateway. He wants to go to college for academics.

It was completely unfortunate that the White House targeted the Upward Bound program for budget cuts. In this day and age when we are spending so much money overseas, up to $10 billion in Iraq, they target monies for folks that need to go to college.

Mr. Speaker, the College Cost Reduction Act is a momentous and historic step in a new direction, the right direction for higher education in America. It opens the door to college to thousands of students where those doors were previously slammed shut.

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