[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 50 (Monday, April 29, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3483-S3484]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          MESSAGE ON EDUCATION

  Mr. REID. Madam President, we speak frequently of Nevada's security 
needs. We speak frequently of the security needs of every State in the 
Union, especially after September 11. We speak frequently of American 
security needs, and understandably so. But we should also realize that 
the strength and security of our Nation require more than bombs and 
bullets and our brave men and women in uniform.
  The future of our country will also be determined by our children and 
our grandchildren and how they are going to be educated. I believe we 
have a high priority for America to educate our children, making sure 
that all children have the tools and opportunity to succeed.
  Nevada is similar to almost every State in the Union with regard to 
educational needs today. However, we also have unique problems. In the 
Las Vegas area, the Clark County School District is the sixth largest 
school district in America with 240,000 kids. We have built 18 new 
schools in 1 year to keep up with the growth.
  In other parts of the State, teachers have been laid off because the 
population growth was not as rapid and there are fewer people living 
there. Jobs have been cut back, especially in places where mining is so 
important. Mines have been cut back.
  The things I hear about education in Nevada I think can be applied 
all over the country. For example, a couple of weeks ago two women came 
to visit with me. They are schoolteachers in Nevada, one representing 
Las Vegas and one representing Reno. They specialize in educating kids 
who are really smart. They were here to tell me of the cutbacks in 
programs in both the Reno and Las Vegas areas. These children have IQs 
of more than 130. Those programs for smart kids in Clark County are 
basically gone. In Reno we still have some, but not as many as they 
should have.

  In Nevada, the high school dropout rate is very high--one of the 
highest in the country. Twenty-seven percent of the children who drop 
out of high school in Clark County have IQs of more than 130. Think 
about that. The smart kids have no programs for their interests. They 
are geniuses. Anyone with an IQ that high is really smart. With all the 
cutbacks in funding for IDEA--a program for kids with special needs--we 
do not have the ability in Nevada and other parts of the country to 
educate those children.
  Think about that--27 percent of the kids dropping out of high school 
in the sixth largest school district in America. That school district 
is one of leaders in high school dropouts. They are geniuses.
  Often, education--especially elementary and secondary education--is 
viewed as a local issue because most decisions are made by local 
leaders, school boards, principals, teachers, and parents, as it should 
be. But the Federal Government should and does play an important role 
in helping to educate America's children.
  One of the high points of my congressional service was when we joined 
together on a bipartisan basis to pass an education bill. We agreed to 
work to improve the quality of education in America's public schools. 
We worked in a bipartisan manner to reauthorize the ESEA. We passed a 
strong educational reform program that requires States to set high 
standards for every student, to strengthen Federal incentives to boost 
low-performing schools, and to significantly improve educational 
achievement. We even gave the legislation a catchy name--the No Child 
Left Behind Act.
  Unfortunately, though, the President has not lived up to what I 
thought was the bipartisan spirit of the legislation we passed. We need 
to not only authorize legislation but we need to appropriate money for 
it.
  Less than a month after signing this bill, the President proposed a 
budget which cuts almost $100 million in funding for the No Child Left 
Behind Act. In addition to that--in effect, rubbing salt into the 
wound--we learned that the President wants to squeeze $1.3 billion from 
the Federal student loan program that helps millions of college 
students, recent graduates, and their families. Actions speak louder 
than words. This administration should want to do more than just talk 
about education.
  This administration can't claim to be committed to education while 
simultaneously making it more difficult and more expensive for students 
to pay for their college education.
  What am I talking about? I am talking about the administration's 
recent pronouncement regarding Federal loan programs. Millions and 
millions of poor and middle-income students rely on student loans to 
pay for their education. Without these loans, these children and young 
adults would be left behind.
  Currently, students and recent graduates can consolidate their loans 
and repay their debts with a fixed interest rate. The President's plan, 
however, would force students and graduates to pay thousands of dollars 
more by subjecting them to a variable interest rate.

  What does this mean? It means you would borrow money and never know 
what the interest rate was going to be. You wouldn't be able to 
consolidate the loans. When students go to college and to graduate 
school, or a professional school, when they graduate and want to 
consolidate their loans, they should be able to do that and have one 
interest rate. The President is suggesting they can't do that anymore.
  To be competitive in the future and remain in our leadership position 
with schools and colleges, America needs to encourage and support 
students seeking higher education.
  People can quibble about public education. I am a great proponent of 
public education. About 95 percent of all kids in America go to public 
schools. There is some criticism due about the public education 
system--no question about that. But college education in this country 
is second to none.
  Of the 131 top schools and colleges in the world, the United States 
has 124 of them. Colleges in America are the best. We have to maintain 
that superiority.

[[Page S3484]]

The plan the President has put forth would close the gates of college 
campuses to many students. In a global economy, and increasingly tied 
to information technology, we will depend more and more on workers with 
advanced training and skills.
  This is more than a student going to college to become a teacher or a 
doctor or a lawyer or an engineer; it is young men and women getting 
out of high school and becoming automobile mechanics or working in the 
health care profession.
  When I graduated from high school, if you wanted to be an automobile 
mechanic, you went to work at the corner service station and became a 
mechanic. It is not that way anymore. To be hired to be an automobile 
mechanic at a car dealership, you have to have a certificate indicating 
you have been properly trained. That is what will happen at our local 
community colleges. That is something of which we have to be aware, 
that young men and women who want to do this need to be able to borrow 
money to get an education.
  A college degree, long seen as a ticket to financial success, is 
becoming a prerequisite for achieving the American dream. At the same 
time, students face even higher tuition costs. Attending a 4-year 
private university can cost up to $40,000 a year. And even public 
universities are becoming too expensive for many students. Some 
students face double-digit percentage increases for tuition at State 
schools next year.
  So we cannot allow this administration's plan to proceed as it deals 
with college loans because it would prevent many capable students from 
attending college. The administration's plan would also have a negative 
impact on those who have already attended college.
  This month, millions of students will graduate from our Nation's 
colleges and universities. They and their families will be rightfully 
proud that they have earned a diploma. Yet they do not know what the 
true cost of their education will be, which they have largely financed 
with student loans. The President's plan will cost them thousands of 
dollars in additional interest payments.

  Already, graduates are heavily burdened with student loan debt. As a 
consequence, they are often unable to pursue a job in the field of 
their choice and, instead, are forced to work in a higher paying job 
but a less personally fulfilling job, if they can find it.
  There are wonderful young men and women who work in the Senate 
offices. They each work for one of us because they want to contribute 
to what they believe is a better society. They could go other places to 
work. I could pick lots of people from my office and use them as 
examples.
  I have two people with Ph.Ds who work for me: One has a doctoral 
degree in physics and the other has a doctorate in geology from fine 
universities around America. They could work other places and make more 
money, but they love what they are doing here. I am so happy they work 
for me. They owe money on student loans. So we have to make sure the 
plan suggested by this administration will not go forward.
  I could pick as examples lots of university graduates who have worked 
for me. I could pick, as I mentioned, Dr. Greg Jaczko. I could pick Dr. 
Kai Anderson. But as an example here today, I am going to pick Shannon 
Eagan.
  Shannon is from Las Vegas. She works on my staff, and she is really 
good. She does legislative correspondence. She also does legislative 
assistance work. She is intelligent, talented, ambitious, and 
interested in a career in public service. But she has to repay tens of 
thousands of dollars in student loans because her parents are not 
wealthy.
  The President's plan would require her to pay thousands and thousands 
of dollars in addition to what she already owes. Of course, she fears 
that a relatively low-paying Government job such as she has will not 
enable her to meet these needs. She is considering, sadly, seeking a 
higher paying, private sector job, even though she likes what she is 
dong in her job.
  If she leaves my staff, I will lose a valuable employee, the State of 
Nevada will not be helped as much as it could be, and the Senate will 
lose a valuable employee. I think it will have a detrimental effect on 
our country, a very small, but significant detrimental effect.
  So we have to watch this very closely. There are hundreds of 
thousands of young Americans who face the same dilemma as Shannon. They 
want to dedicate themselves to serving our country as teachers or 
social workers or working in the Congress of the United States. But 
when they do the math--calculating their salary and their expenses, 
including their student loan payments--they discover it simply is not 
possible.
  Since we need more bright, motivated people to work in these 
occupations, including being a teacher, this is really a double whammy 
on us. If education is truly a priority for this administration, they 
will drop this plan to raise the cost of student loans. We all must be 
aware of this. It affects millions of people, and we should do 
everything we can so the students get the benefit, not the banks.
  Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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