[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 5, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H4182]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     REPUBLICAN MAJORITY HAS A NEW CONTRACT OUT ON COLLEGE STUDENTS

  (Mr. PASTOR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PASTOR. Mr. Speaker, I think it has become clear to the American 
people that the Contract With America is nothing more than a contract 
on the middle and working class of America. And now, the Republican 
majority has a new contract out on the college students of this 
country.
  We all know, Mr. Speaker, that the cost of attending college is 
rising. And yet my Republican colleagues have suggested giving the 
wealthy a tax cut by reducing funding for Federal financial aid 
programs. On the Republican chopping block is the interest-deferred 
Stafford Loan Program which if eliminated would cost the average 
student $4,344 in added loan repayments.
  The work study programs, which provide Federal dollars to colleges to 
hire low- and middle-income students for campus jobs, would also be 
eliminated if Republicans have their way. Other GOP targets include the 
Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants and the Perkins Loans, which 
go to the neediest students. These cuts will do nothing for this Nation 
other than assure that college students, especially the neediest 
students, will be forced out of school altogether.
  To put it simply, Mr. Speaker, anything that would help the children 
of low-income and working American families to get ahead has been or 
will be eliminated if the Republican Contract on the average American 
becomes law.

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