[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 130 (Saturday, August 5, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1649-E1650]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1996

                                 ______


                               speech of

                        HON. BARBARA B. KENNELLY

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, August 2, 1995

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2127) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human 
     Services, and Education, and related agencies, for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 1996, and for other purposes:

  Mrs. KENNELLY. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Lowey amendment 
to restore needed funding to the Perkins Loan Program.
  Supporters of this bill say that the extreme budget cuts it contains 
are necessary to ensure a bright future for our Nation's young people. 
I share the commitment to deficit reduction, but I have to wonder what 
kind of future our children will have if they can't afford a college 
education.
  Student loans help prepare a new generation of scientists, teachers, 
doctors, entrepreneurs, and, yes, elected leaders. Many of us in this 
body would not be here were it not for the college education we 
received through student loans.
  Student loans give young men and women born into poverty the means to 
become productive members of society. Too many lower-income families 
strive to send their children to college but are forced to choose 
between paying tuition and paying for basic necessities.
  We've heard so much rhetoric in this body about personal 
responsibility--about making people pull themselves up by their 
bootstraps. 

[[Page E1650]]
Cutting off student loans would take those bootstraps away from 
millions of Americans.
  Most importantly, student loans are a down-payment on a strong 
American economy that will lead the world into the next century. By 
gutting our student loan program, we consign our Nation to a less-
educated populace and a less-productive future.
  I urge a ``yes'' vote on the Lowey amendment.
  

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