[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 53 (Tuesday, April 29, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H1956]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    INCREASE FUNDING FOR PELL GRANTS

  (Mr. McGOVERN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to include extraneous material.)
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to applaud the 12 national 
organizations who recently wrote this Congress endorsing H.R. 744, a 
bill I introduced in February to increase Federal funding and 
eligibility for Pell grants.
  The McGovern bill increases the maximum Pell grant from its present 
level of $2,700 to $5,000, which brings the award to the level in which 
it was created adjusted for inflation. My bill permits more students 
from modest income families to access higher education and allows more 
middle-income families with multiple children in college to qualify for 
financial aid.

                              {time}  1415

  I would also like to commend over 40 of my House colleagues from both 
sides of the aisle who have signed on as cosponsors of H.R. 744. As the 
drive to pass this bill continues to gain momentum, I am confident that 
many more of my colleagues will join the effort to make college more 
affordable for working families across this Nation. In today's 
competitive global economy, education is the key to America's success. 
My bill will help lead the way toward a stronger economy and a brighter 
future for our children. Let us pass it today.
  I include for the Record a letter signed by more than 12 major 
national organizations urging passage of the McGovern-Pell-Grant bill.
                                                   April 21, 1997.
       Dear Representative: We write to express our strong support 
     for HR 744, The Affordable Higher Education Through Pell 
     Grants Act. By restoring much of the value of Pell grants, HR 
     744's passage and funding offers this Congress its best 
     opportunity to narrow the college participation gap between 
     low-income students and students from affluent families. This 
     gap threatens not just the well-being of the individual 
     students who, due to high cost, will be denied access to 
     higher education and the opportunities that it offers; it 
     also jeopardizes our collective future as a democracy that 
     promotes upward mobility through education and effort.
       The gap in college participation rates between the poor and 
     the well-off is growing. Between 1980 and 1993 the gap in the 
     college-going rate of students in the lowest income quartile 
     and of students in the three higher income quartiles grew by 
     12 percent. Thus, 18 and 19 year olds from families with 
     incomes in the top income quartile are now three times as 
     likely to be enrolled in college as those in the bottom 
     quartile. Similar gaps can be found in graduation rates. 
     While nearly 48% of the young adults raised in families in 
     the highest socio-economic quartile obtain BA's, only 7% of 
     those from families in the lowest socio-economic quartile do.
       A major cause of the growth in the gap is the soaring cost 
     of higher education coupled with the deteriorating value of 
     the primary form of assistance to low-income students--Pell 
     grants.
       Between 1980 and 1994 the cost of tuition, room and board 
     at public postsecondary institutions jumped by 44%. Over 
     approximately the same period, Pell grants lost about 50% of 
     their purchasing power. In FY 1979 the maximum Pell grant 
     covered 77.4% of the average cost of a public university; by 
     FY 1997 the maximum Pell grant covered only 33.2% of those 
     costs.
       The unchecked growth of the college participation gap will 
     lock hundreds of thousands of students out of college and 
     into limited lives at the margins of our society. And it will 
     cost our nation dearly. Individuals with only a high school 
     diploma earn only half what college graduates earn, are three 
     times more likely to be unemployed, and are five times more 
     likely to live in poverty than are college graduates. Unless 
     narrowed, the growing gap will make college access a 
     destructive wedge, further dividing income groups, rather 
     than the bridge to greater prosperity and productivity that 
     it has been for so many Americans.
       Passage of HR 744 alone is not enough to close the college 
     participation gap, but it will certainly narrow it. Carefully 
     constructed progressive tax policies in addition to HR 744 
     could narrow the gap even more. However, passage of HR 744 
     must be the first priority of those who wish to increase 
     access to higher education and narrow the college 
     participation gap.
       HR 744 is a modest, common sense step toward closing the 
     gap. We urge you to cosponsor this legislation and to work 
     actively for its passage.
           Sincerely,
         The American Jewish Committee, The Center for Law and 
           Education, The Education Trust, The Mexican American 
           Legal Defense and Education Fund, The NAACP, The 
           National Association of Social Workers, The National 
           Council of Educational Opportunity Associations 
           (NCEOA), The National Council of Jewish Women, The 
           National Council of La Raza, The National Puerto Rican 
           Coalition, Inc., The Rainbow/Push Coalition, The US 
           Student Association.

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