[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 87 (Wednesday, May 24, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H5486]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             REPUBLICANS TO STUDENTS: NEED HELP? FORGET IT

  (Mr. GONZALEZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, America is the place that invented mass 
education, and that is one thing that made this the great country that 
it is.
  For the past 50 years, great programs like the GI bill and the 
Student Loan Program have opened the doors of opportunity to 
generations of kids from poor, struggling families. The strongest, 
richest, most progressive regions in America are those regions where a 
fine education is within the reach of every worthy student, no matter 
how poor that student might be.
  One would think that with millions of success stories, and one would 
think that with all the lessons of history, the Republicans would 
conclude that education ought to get a very high priority.
  Nope. The Republicans want to strangle very form of student aid. They 
want to add thousands of dollars to the cost of student loans, and make 
deep cuts in every other kind of student aid. Hundreds of thousands of 
deserving kids will find it impossible to afford a good college 
education.
  In my district alone there are almost 33,000 students who need 
student loans to make it through school. Losing the interest rate 
benefit will cost them millions of dollars. Since my district is among 
the Nation's poorest, many of those kids will lose their best chance 
for a decent life.
  The Republican message to them is that hard work and studious habits 
do not pay. The Republican message to the 50 per cent of kids who need 
help to go to college is forget it. As a social policy it is tragic. As 
an economic policy, it is foolish. Our Government has assisted 
education as a high priority since the Northwest Ordinance of 1789. 
George Washington must be embarrassed to see the Republican budget.


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