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Conference Report on H.R. 4137, Higher Education Opportunity Act

Press Release

Date: July 31, 2008
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Education


CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 4137, HIGHER EDUCATION OPPORTUNITY ACT -- (House of Representatives - July 31, 2008)

Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, from 2001 to 2006, the cost of higher education exploded in this country. It went up 40 percent, destroying the dreams of too many young people and damaging our economy. During that time period, the Congress turned a deaf ear to that issue. The Pell Grant program had been basically frozen, and the interest rates for the Stafford Student Loan Program incredibly was increased.

Last year, under Mr. Miller's leadership, we passed the College Cost Reduction Act which addressed those two problems. This year we are finally addressing a piece of legislation that was 5 years overdue, the Higher Education Reauthorization Act which, as the prior speakers have said, will do many good things in terms of holding colleges and universities accountable for high costs, and also cleaning up unethical lending practices which had cropped up, and many students, so desperate to find access to money, fell victim to.

I urge support for this conference report which, again, has been long overdue for 5 years, and applaud the leadership of Mr. Miller, Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Hinojosa in leading the Congress in a new direction.


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