[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 7, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E54]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        INTRODUCTION OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION AMENDMENTS OF 1998

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                        HON. WILLIAM F. GOODLING

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 7, 1997

  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, today Mr. McKeon, Mr. Clay, Mr. Kildee and 
I have introduced a bill to extend the Higher Education Act of 1995. 
The Higher Education Act is one of the most important pieces of 
legislation we will be reviewing this Congress. The law enacted by this 
Congress which provides for the continuation of the Higher Education 
Act will establish Federal student aid policy for students and families 
through the year 2004. Our guiding principles will be: making college 
more affordable; simplifying the student aid system; and improving 
academic quality for students.
  I am a firm believer that a postsecondary education is one of the 
keys to family security in this country. As parents, we all work hard 
in the hope that our children will have a better life and more 
opportunities than the prior generation. Unfortunately, it has become 
increasingly difficult for families to fulfill this dream.
  Students and their families are worrying more and more about how they 
are going to pay for a postsecondary education. A recent General 
Accounting Office report notes that public 4-year colleges raised 
tuition 256 percent between 1980 and 1995, far outstripping the 
consumer price index and the rise in a typical family's income. Yet, 
college is no longer a luxury. Over the last decade, the earnings gap 
between youth with a postsecondary education and those without has 
continued to widen. New and advanced technology is dominating our 
economy and driving down the value of lowerskilled jobs. At a time when 
a college education is no longer a luxury, families are finding 
themselves unable to save or borrow enough money to pay the bill.
  As we begin our intensive review of the Higher Education Act and 
Federal student aid policy, we will be looking for ways to assist all 
Americans in their pursuit of an affordable, high-quality postsecondary 
education. Achieving this goal is critical to the survival and growth 
of this country.

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