Conference Report on H.R. 2669, College Cost Reduction and Access Act

Floor Speech

CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 2669, COLLEGE COST REDUCTION AND ACCESS ACT -- (House of Representatives - September 07, 2007)

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Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the Conference Report on H.R. 2669. As the father of three college graduates and a college sophomore, I am all too familiar with the financial burden higher education poses on families and students.

As lawmakers, our number one higher education priority should be to ensure that college is affordable for any student. Instead of helping students, the conference agreement would require student borrowers to pay thousands more for a college education.

The conference agreement does not contain any language to address the issue of rising college costs. Instead of holding colleges and universities accountable for how they spend taxpayer dollars, the agreement does the exact opposite and throws additional Federal funds at institutions while denying new information to consumers.

The most appalling aspect of this agreement is that it achieves minimal deficit reduction. The conference agreement only produces $750 million for deficit reduction, even though the bill cuts $22.3 billion from the student loan program. Last year, President Bush signed into law a Republican reconciliation measure that achieved a full $12 billion in deficit reduction while increasing benefits for students.

I urge my colleagues to vote against this agreement and encourage President Bush to veto this legislation if it comes to his desk.

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