[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 60 (Tuesday, May 4, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H2528-H2535]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     REPORT OF 30-SOMETHING CAUCUS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 7, 2003, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Meek) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to address the House 
and the American people on this afternoon. I must say that this is not 
only a great opportunity but a historic opportunity to address the 
House. I was very honored to see and hear the Democratic leader, Nancy 
Pelosi, share her appreciation for the 30-Something Caucus that she 
created here in this House to address the American people on a weekly 
basis. And so this is our first evening coming together. We will have 
some Members that are 30-plus, maybe in their lower 40s, but all of the 
ladies that will come forth tonight, they are all in their 20s, so they 
do not quite want to admit that they are in the 30-Something Caucus, 
but we do have Members that have been in this body and as a part of 
this body on the Democratic side who came in at a very young age.
  I think, Mr. Speaker, Members of the House and also the American 
people, it is very important that we have Members here so we have a 
diversity of not only representation but a voice as it relates to the 
future and especially for those individuals, I am 37 years old and I am 
going to be in a situation very soon, I have young children that are 
going to have to attend college. So what is happening right now in this 
House and what is happening in this country is so very, very important 
to me, not only as a Member of Congress but also to individuals that 
work hard every day.
  I just wanted to rehash what the leader shared with us a little 
earlier today when she took the floor this evening, about maybe 30 
minutes ago. She created a 30-Something Caucus, Leader Pelosi did, 
amongst House Democrats. There are 14. We work day in and day out to 
make sure that we talk about the issues and point out issues that are 
happening here in this House and making sure that we have results or 
recommendations for results. There is only so much that we can do in 
the minority; but if we continue to work hard toward those issues, then 
we can bring about the kind of change that is needed for the country, 
that means for individuals that are Democrats, Republicans and 
Independents. Also, this is going to provide an opportunity for us to 
be interactive with the American people through e-mail and also through 
other means of communications to make sure that we provide the best 
kind of representation that is possible, especially for individuals 
that are approaching college, parents that are thinking about sending 
their children to college, making sure that it is affordable and that 
it is there for them.
  I would like to call on the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Linda T. 
Sanchez), who has been such an outstanding Member of this body and also 
a good voice not only for her district in California which she 
represents, the 39th District, but being my freshman sister here in 
this 108th Congress.
  Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I am here this 
evening to talk about an issue that is very near and dear to my heart 
and that is the need for access to higher education. A long time ago, a 
college education was reserved for the well-to-do, not something that 
an ordinary citizen could readily achieve. But over time, that changed 
and now a college education is no longer a privilege of just a few but 
a necessity to achieve any kind of job security in our very fluid 
economy.
  But, sadly, just as a college education has become an absolutely 
crucial component of obtaining a good job, the Bush administration is 
making it harder and harder to access and afford a college education. 
As a 30-something Member of Congress, and I will admit to the gentleman 
from Florida I am in my 30s, I am here to speak on behalf of young 
people who are struggling to achieve the American dream of a decent 
college education. Rather than burdening today's young people with 
overwhelming debt, there are several things that we can do to help. We 
need to slow down the tuition hikes and encourage States to maintain 
their commitment to higher education. And we should double the Pell 
grant award and make it available year round.

  Finally, we should implement Senator John Kerry's idea for $50 
billion in tax credits to help Americans afford all 4 years of college. 
The typical loan debt has nearly doubled over the past 10 years for the 
average student, with 64 percent of students needing to borrow money to 
finance their college education. I too struggled to make college and 
law school a reality. As it turned out, all seven children in my family 
were fortunate enough to obtain a college degree. But we all did it 
with the assistance of Federal grants and Federal loans, loans, I might 
add, that I will be paying off until I am in my 60s.
  Despite the fact that we came from immigrant parents who did not 
speak much of the language when they first got here and were of limited 
economic means, all seven of my brothers and sisters and I graduated 
from a college institution. Most amazingly, however, my mother returned 
to school after the youngest of her seven children started kindergarten 
and she went to night school to earn her 2-year degree and later 
transferred to a 4-year institution and graduated from college in her 
late 40s to become a bilingual education teacher. That is how strongly 
she believed in a quality education and in showing and demonstrating to 
us that education was truly the key to the American dream in this 
country.
  I find that the current atmosphere that works against students who 
are trying to finance their way through school is really something that 
undermines many of the American values that we hold dear. Overwhelming 
debt

[[Page H2529]]

can force students to take on jobs to try to work their way through 
school to the detriment of their education, or in some instances 
students forgo college all together assuming that the expensive and 
exorbitant tuition hikes are far out of their reach. In the past year 
alone, tuition has increased an average of 14 percent at 2- and 4-year 
public institutions, and it has increased 6 percent at 4-year private 
schools. That is just in 1 year. That is not even counting the fact 
that the cost of living keeps rising and things like rent and food and 
books go up as well.
  In response, President Bush has ignored the tuition problem, cut or 
frozen student aid, and levied higher taxes onto students. If we do not 
have an education President, then we definitely need to have an 
education Congress. I urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle 
to break with their President and fight for education support for our 
young people. Let us send the President legislation making education 
more affordable and more accessible to all, and let us dare him to sign 
it. The bottom line is that the leadership in Congress needs to stop 
talking about education and actually do something about it.
  I again thank the gentleman from Florida for allowing me to speak 
this evening.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. I thank the gentlewoman from California so very 
much. I want to say on just a few of her points, talking about the real 
cost of tuition, we talk about students, we talk about the cost of 
young people having to foot the bill, we talk about students leaving 
the college experience, the higher educational experience if they get 
through, if they can afford it, carrying on a great deal of debt that 
starts them off in the working world already in the hole. They went to 
school to be able to help America be stronger and also help themselves 
to be able to get the kind of job they need to be able to provide for 
their families and be able to buy a home.

                              {time}  2045

  And what she is saying is very real. She took part in the 30-
Something or the Young Leaders conference that the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Pelosi) had, and we all participated in it. And I just 
would appreciate it if she could share a few of the stories that some 
of the students shared with her about their experiences about trying to 
afford college because many of them work here in this House, many of 
them attend school right now, and they are running into you know what 
trying to pay for college.
  Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I have heard from a 
number of young people all across the United States about the burden of 
taking on that debt and trying to even work their way through college 
at the same time that they are assuming debt. It is very common now 
that a degree that used to take 4 years in order to complete now takes 
5 or 6. I have heard of people who have actually, once they have 
graduated, have been so saddled with the huge debt of trying to repay 
their student loans. They have had to move in with their parents 
because the job economy and the job prospects are not bright for them.
  In many instances it can take several years for them to be self-
sufficient, actually land a job to where they can be self-sufficient. 
Meanwhile, their student loan payments come due because they can only 
defer them for so long, and what we are finding is many young people, 
after they have worked to try to either get a 4-year degree or an 
advanced degree, meet somebody, fall in love, and marry, they are 
having to wait an average of 4 years longer to purchase their first 
home because of the staggering student loan payments that they have to 
make monthly, and it is a very sad thing because I was brought up with 
my parents telling me that education is the key to success in this 
country. If one gets a college degree and a good education, the world 
is their oyster, and that is simply not the case for many young people 
today.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, we have two different educational 
experiences beyond high school now. We have our 2-year institutions 
that are community colleges that many working people have to use to be 
able to receive a higher education, not because they could not get into 
a 4-year institution. Many times they have to stay home, Mr. Speaker, 
to help pay bills. They cannot afford, because of a lack of income or a 
sick family member, to move away.
  So they do their first 2 years at community colleges. Then we have 
another group of individuals that graduate from high school, moving on 
to a 4-year institution, and they also have to foot their own way 
through college, or a parent has to pick up an additional job or ask 
other family members to participate in helping to pay for one's 
educational experience.
  And while the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Linda T. Sanchez) is 
here, I want to make sure that we share with the American people what 
is going on in this Congress now. Many times people ask, Okay, 
Democrats, what do you stand for? I mean, it is one thing to describe 
the problem. It is another thing to make sure that we can talk about 
and act upon solutions. And I will tell my colleagues that as it 
relates to doubling the maximum Pell grant award to $11,600 by 2010, I 
must say that this is a commitment that should be fulfilled because 
right now we have the typical student that nearly doubled themselves in 
debt.
  Sixty-four percent of them are $17,000 in debt when they walk across 
the stage, thinking that they are going to a job, that is, if they have 
a job, that may be able to help pay down that debt, and we have more 
students in America, young people, whose loans are falling in default, 
and one of the things that I picked up at the conference, so it is so 
very important that we listen, the banks are now marching to the Hill 
with the majority. Republicans are saying, well, we have a plan for 
student loans. And I get kind of concerned when banks start coming with 
a plan for students.

  And I do not know, I am not speaking from experience, but I know 
people who have gone through this. Right now we have banks, Mr. 
Speaker, that if one overdraws, it is a $29 fee. These are the same 
individuals that are coming to the Hill that are getting the attention 
of congressional leaders that they have a plan for young people. They 
are trying to do away with making sure that students can have a fixed 
rate to be able to make sure that they can pay their loans down, and 
when we do not have this fixed rate, the Congressional Research Service 
that we call CRS said ``by eliminating the current consolidation low-
fixed rate benefit would force a typical student who has borrowed 
within $17,000 in debt to pay an additional . . . ''
  This is a tax, Mr. Speaker. I am going to put it this way. When we 
have a $7.1 trillion deficit, the highest deficit in the history of the 
republic, and at the same time we are providing tax cuts to 
millionaires who are not even asking for it because we can, this is 
what happens. We continue to fleece our future and fleece the dreams of 
these Americans. And I just want to mention, before I yield to the 
gentlewoman, that under the fixed rate as it relates to interest, 
$3,948. Under a variable rate, that is the banks' plan, the big banks' 
plan that I must say is getting wind behind the sails here in this 
Congress, which is the reason why I am glad the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Pelosi) has brought us together because she needs the 
opportunity to be the Speaker of this House so that we can get some 
legislation and make sure we insulate the protections that students 
have now, under a variable rate, $9,432.
  So when we look at it, $3,948 under a fixed; under a variable where 
banks make more money, students pay longer, and more students go into 
default, $9,432, this is counterproductive. These are the things that 
we have to talk about, and these are the things that we have to 
legislate against.
  Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, if I could add a 
couple of things on to that, not only are the banking institutions 
trying to change the law to move away from a fixed rate to a variable 
rate, they are also trying to pass along the costs of generating these 
loans, more of the costs, on to students. Right now when students 
trying to take out students loans, they are responsible for their loan 
generation fees which end up being about $500 on average. So that is a 
further burden that is added to the students. Now they are trying to 
pass more of those costs on to the students.
  And, sadly, if we think about this in the long term, banks get these 
loans

[[Page H2530]]

guaranteed by the Federal Government. That is our tax dollars. And 
every time somebody defaults on a student loan, it is the taxpayers who 
are coming to the rescue to pick it up. The banks have very little risk 
for these loans, and yet they want to make the interest rates fluid so 
that they can generate more profit, all the while fully knowing that if 
the loan becomes unbearable for a student to pay back and they default, 
they do not have to worry about it because the taxpayers step in and 
pay the bill.
  I just think that is wrong fundamentally to put that burden back on 
the taxpayers when we should be trying to move in the other direction 
to make these loans affordable for students so that they do not default 
so that the payback rate increases, which, again, is more sound for the 
economy and again saves taxpayers money in the long run.
  So with that, I will yield back to the gentleman and allow him to 
continue on the discussion on higher education this evening.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, we just had another colleague join 
us. But I want to share with the American people, like I said, we are 
interactive here. We want to make sure that we hear from the American 
people. We want to make sure that we take them up on their suggestions. 
And the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Linda T. Sanchez) is welcome 
to stay as long as she can. I know we all have schedules. But we are 
here to listen, and we are here to act.
  For the Democratic leader, and I must add, female leader of any major 
party, to come here tonight to put emphasis on a weekly commitment of 
being here in this Chamber to make sure that we do not continue to see 
young people and families in debt because we feel that we are giving 
them one thing, okay, we will give them a $200 or $300 tax cut, but at 
the same time, we are pulling the carpet out from under them to allow 
their family to educate themselves better, to be able to provide for 
their families.
  I want to commend the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) for 
pulling us together, letting us know that our purpose here in this 
Congress is very important.
  I want to give an e-mail address out. I want to make sure that the 
American people know that they can communicate with us on the topics 
that we should talk about in the future or topics that we are talking 
about now and also personal stories that not only working families are 
going through, trying to make sure they put money aside for students to 
be able to receive affordable tuition or that they can be able to 
provide for their children, [email protected]. They can 
send us e-mails. They can send us battles that they are fighting. They 
can also send us recommendations so that we can legislate better on 
behalf of them.
  We also have someone who is joining us who is also one of our anchors 
here tonight, and I am so glad. I know the American people, nine times 
out of ten, think there is probably not a lot going on here, but there 
is a lot going on and we are so glad the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) 
can join us. He is from Ohio, Congressional District 17, one of the 
youngest members, if not the youngest member, of the 30-Something group 
that the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) put together, and is 
a dear friend and colleague. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Ryan).
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida and 
the gentlewoman gentlewoman from California for bringing up these 
issues. I just recently moved up into the 30-Something. I was in the 29 
something caucus all by myself before we started here.
  A couple of issues. I missed the beginning of the special order here, 
but I have three universities in my district. I have a local campus, 
branch campus of one of those universities, and I think the one issue 
that I faced being in the State Senate in Ohio with tuition increases 
going up by 10, 15 percent across the board, is that the one issue that 
young kids and young students could sniff out more than anything else 
is when someone is trying to pull the wool over their eyes, when 
someone is trying to tell them one thing and do something else. And the 
last presidential election, the students, the college students, the 
technical students, of this country were promised by the President of 
the United States that he was going to raise the Pell grant award to 
$5,100 for all freshmen students. Now today the maximum Pell grants is 
still $4,050.
  So we try to engage young students, we try to engage young people 
into the process, and we try to tell them that we care about their 
needs. But here once again in 2000 they were told one thing by a 
typical politician, as they would see it and they would call it, who 
would promise one thing and then something else happened. They did not 
deliver on the promise. And, again, I heard the gentleman from Florida 
reiterate, as has been reiterated many times here in this Chamber, that 
again we have the priorities for the top 1 percent. They are the people 
that we care about. We garner all the energy of this Chamber to help 
the top 1 percent. But we cannot make one move to help college 
students. And as he said, I am sure in Florida it is the same way as it 
is in Ohio: 10 percent this year, 10 percent next year, 13 percent the 
next year, 15 percent the next year for college education.
  And these are the States that are getting hardest hit by the job 
loss. So they lose their job or they are underemployed; so they go from 
a job making 15 or 20 bucks an hour with health insurance down to 9 
bucks an hour. Now they are at Sam's Club, now they are at Super-K, now 
they are at Kohl's or Bed, Bath & Beyond, trying to make ends meet for 
their family, and they have a 15 percent tuition increase to try to 
make ends meet for their kids.
  So I am glad that the leader has also organized this. This is a great 
opportunity, I think, for us to try to address some of the issues here 
in the United States Congress and let people know out there, let young 
students know out there on a Tuesday night at nine o'clock, as they are 
flipping through watching Comedy Central or MTV or VH1, that they could 
maybe tune in here once a week, and they do not have to do it every 
night, but once a week find out there are Members of the United States 
Congress that are trying to address some of their needs.
  I know we have some other speakers. I would be happy to stick around 
and talk a little bit.

                              {time}  2100

  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I want to thank 
the gentleman for identifying this, and really this is about a 
discussion. We want everyone to share opening statements, but I think 
it is important that we talk about these issues.
  Once again, I want to make sure this is not the report of the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) or the report of the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Meek) or the report of the gentlewoman from California 
(Ms. Linda T. Sanchez) or the report of the gentleman from New York 
(Mr. Meeks).
  These are reports produced by the Congress. These are reports 
produced by reputable institutions in the United States of America that 
are looking out for costs to the American people and looking out for 
our future as it relates to a workforce.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, that is right. If the gentleman would 
yield further, I would say to the young students who may be watching 
this or may hear about this through their college newspapers, that they 
can check the statistics. We are not going to stand on the floor of the 
House of Representatives and try to lie to you. We are going to present 
to you statistics we have had verified, information we have had 
verified from members of our staffs and different organizations.
  Check it out. It is not us saying it. It is not a Democrat or 
Republican issue. Unfortunately, the Congress has been controlled by 
the Republicans for a good many years, the White House has been in the 
hands of the Republicans for now 3\1/2\ years, and the Senate has been 
in Republican hands for a few years now. If they wanted to address the 
needs of college students in the United States of America, they had the 
opportunity.
  Time and time again, we took the opportunity to engage the top 1 or 2 
percent, to make sure they got hundreds of thousands of dollars back in 
some instances. So this is a priority issue for this Congress; and if 
you do not believe

[[Page H2531]]

us, go right ahead and check our facts, just the facts.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, let me share 
one other thing with the gentleman. I want to make sure the American 
people understand we are listening, and we will continue to listen. Not 
only young people, but parents that are facing this problem and 
grandparents that are now having to reach into their honey pot, however 
big it may be, of money they put aside, hard-earned money they put 
aside to help educate their children. Because the future of the 
bloodline is to make sure we have an affordable education system.
  Democrats, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) and all of us 
in this Chamber, stand united in ending the $500 unfair student loan 
tax, which is the origination fee that the gentlewoman from California 
(Ms. Linda T. Sanchez) spoke about. That is the fee that banks 
celebrate. That is the cream on the top. That is the ``we are already 
going to make a load of money off of interest rates, but we are going 
to add another fee on.'' These are the things that individuals do not 
realize that are taxes that they are paying that they should not have 
to pay.
  Also providing the Public Service Scholarships for up to $17,500, and 
loan forgiveness for high-qualified graduates to teach in our schools, 
in nursing, child welfare and other high-priority public service 
careers that are there, and at the same time doubling the maximum Pell 
grant award to $11,600 by the year 2011.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to bring on the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Meeks). We spoke of the $7.1 trillion deficit. That is a lot of money. 
As we go to make tax cuts permanent, this means that the education 
opportunity for young people and for parents who want to educate their 
children, I know this time of night I am usually either eating or we 
are putting children to bed, and I am going to tell you what is on my 
mind. On my mind is, can I afford it? And let me tell you, this is not 
about me, because, guess what? Many of us in this Chamber, we are going 
to be okay. The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan), the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Meeks), the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Linda T. 
Sanchez), we are going to be okay, because we are Members of Congress 
and we are respected members of our community and we have some level of 
influence. Individuals may want to help our children.
  But what happens to that individual who is not a Member of Congress? 
What happens to that individual that works every day, that is punching 
in and punching out, trying to live honestly? How do they educate their 
children? That is where the rubber meets the road. That is why we need 
the opportunity.
  My good friend and colleague, the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Meeks), no relation, he said that he is ``meek'' when he is in Miami 
and I am ``meeks'' when I am in New York. I thank the gentleman for 
joining us.
  Mr. MEEKS of New York. I felt compelled to join. I wish I was part of 
the 30-Something Club. I just joined the 50-Something Club. But just 
sitting here listening, I want to compliment those who are members of 
the 30-Something Club because America really is dependent upon you. 
Therefore, it becomes important for those of us in Congress to make 
sure that life is better for our children than it was for us.
  Now, I sit here as a Member of Congress, as the gentleman indicated. 
I have three daughters, two of whom are in college. As the gentleman 
said, they are going to be all right. But their father can relate to 
what you are talking about, because I come from a very poor home. I 
grew up in public housing, and my parents understood that in order for 
my family to be better that education was the key. But they could not 
afford it, so when it was time for me to go to college, the only 
solution for me was to take out school loans.
  Guess what? Even that was not enough. So my parents, my father, took 
a second job, my mother went back to work, and they had to borrow 
personal money themselves.
  Now, the point I am trying to make is that then when I graduated, I 
went on and was one of those guys that was ambitious. It was not only 4 
years of undergraduate school, but, as some people know today, you do 
not stop simply with a BA necessarily. But if you want to go on to do 
other things, if you want to go to graduate school, in my case it was 
law school, there was an additional 3 years of student loans that I had 
to take and sacrifice that my parents had to make.

  So when I was able to leave school and took a prominent job as an 
assistant district attorney, when you look at the salary that I was 
making, equal to my companion, one would think, but I had these 
tremendous school loans that I had to pay back. So while they could go 
on and live in a decent apartment, I had to go back to live with my 
parents, for two reasons: number one, I had to pay my loans; number 
two, I had to help them pay for their loans that they took out for my 
education.
  So for the first almost 7 years of my adult life working as a 
prosecutor I was still living at home, simply because of economics, 
simply because I had to help myself and at the same time help my 
parents who made the kind of sacrifices they made.
  We should do better than that in Congress. We should not want to 
continue that burden or give an extra burden to our young people. We 
are, in fact, the richest country on the planet; and then we give tax 
cuts just to the richest 1 or 2 percent of Americans and say to our 
young people, we are not going to think about you. Or we know, as the 
gentleman said, that we are $7.1 trillion in debt, and guess what? 
Those of us who are 50-something, we are not really going to have to 
pay it. We are going to leave those burdens to you guys who are 30-
something and 20-something. So you are going to inherit the debt. But 
on top of the debt, you are going to inherit from this country, we are 
going to pile on school loans, so you can never get out of it.
  Or are we trying to set up a system where you have an elitist class, 
where only the top 1 or 2 percent can afford to send their kids to 
college? Why? They will not have to take out any school loans, because 
their parents are able to afford it and pay for it all.
  So this work becomes important, what you are doing. I take my hat off 
to our leader, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), for what 
she is doing; and I take my hat off to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. 
Ryan), the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Meek), and to the gentlewoman 
from California (Ms. Linda T. Sanchez), who was here, because they are 
leading America, and America only changes when young people move.
  That is why I hope people get into these Members' e-mail and start e-
mailing and commenting and giving some comments, because to me the 
future of America lies only with the young people; and we need these 
people and their involvement and their ideas.
  I will tell you as an older individual who just entered the 50-
Something Club that you will have an ally in me and many others in this 
Democratic conference, particularly, that will push to make sure that 
your America is a better America for all than it is today.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield further, I 
want to thank the gentleman, because the 30-somethings are always 
looking for some support from the 50-somethings, without a doubt. But I 
think the gentleman raised a couple of very good points.
  The one point is, let us think about a young student today who may be 
just finishing up high school, or a sophomore or junior in high school, 
getting ready to go, or maybe a kid 10 or 12 years old. What kind of 
student loan burden are they going to have? If the colleges, public 
universities go 10 percent, 10 percent, 10 percent, 10 percent over the 
next 4 or 5 years, Pell grants are not adjusted for inflation, the same 
problems with the student loans, we tack on more user fees and 
everything else, and then the debt from the tax cuts. So by the time 
they get through law school, if they are 15 now, by the time they are 
27, 28, 30 years old, they have all of that educational burden. Then 
they have the burden that we are putting on them from the past 2 or 3 
years here.
  Where is the economic machine going to move at that point when you 
have so much debt? We are really putting chains not only on our kids, 
but on the economy. That is one point I would like to make.
  The other point I thought of is that not only are we strapping 
ourselves

[[Page H2532]]

with our debt, but we have less kids that are going to be on the border 
that we need to create the new economy. We do not know what the new 
economy is going to be. We know it is not industry. We know industry 
has been on the decline for the last 30 years, trade agreements we have 
signed and a variety of other issues, whatever they may be, technology. 
So what is the new economy going to be? The best thing we can do is 
just educate these young kids and say, you go out and create it. We do 
not know what it is going to be yet.
  So I appreciate the gentleman stopping down, and hopefully he can 
make it down in the next weeks and months to come.
  Mr. MEEKS of New York. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield 
further, I will add to that, if I may, initially, you can go back to my 
time and before, we were competing with individuals within our State or 
individuals within our tri-state region or even just individuals within 
our Nation. But the gentleman is so right. Right now our students have 
to compete with other students all across this globe because of the 
global economy and how it is now all intersected and interconnected.

  What we are really talking about here is the national defense of 
America, and the national defense of America depends upon the education 
of our young people. If we close that opportunity down by making it 
unaffordable to them, then we are really putting our country in a 
great, great danger of not being able to continue the greatness that we 
have thus far.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. The great investment of the GI Bill, which sprang 
our economy into the world domination we now have. I look at my 
grandparents' generation, who many accessed the GI Bill, doctors, 
lawyers and engineers.
  The space program, it was not just about going to the Moon; it was 
about getting mathematicians and scientists and engineers and 
physicists. They were not all going to work for NASA, but they went out 
into the private sector and drove this economy forward throughout the 
'50s, '60s, and '70s when we had a lot of success. We need to make 
those investments again.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. What I am glad to hear and see, especially the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks), many times I think people know the 
glory, but they do not know the story. The story is real. The story is, 
as one comedian said, you had to move back in with your parents, write 
your name on the orange juice container, and sleep in the den. But you 
had to do it.
  The real issue is, especially for a majority of this Congress on the 
Republican side, standing firm to make sure that millionaires receive a 
permanent tax break, so that we would have in the very near future a 
$7.1 trillion deficit.
  I am looking for the deficit hawks every day. I am saying, where are 
they? The folks that used to take the floor on the other side, the 
Republican side used to jump up and talk about the deficit every 2 
minutes, when it was this Congress, the Democratically controlled 
Congress that balanced the budget. President Clinton balanced the 
budget that put forth the opportunities for young people.
  And when we are talking about young people, I say to the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. Meeks), we are talking about you. We are talking 
about what you have to pay, what your constituents have to pay, my 
constituents, towards educating their children in the real world.
  In the real world, many of these individuals that we are talking 
about here tonight, they cannot walk into a conventional bank and say, 
I want to get a loan for my children's education. They have to go and 
mortgage their homes. They get a second mortgage. They even go into the 
sub-prime mortgages, which is the high interest rate, because it is 
their children. As a parent, you will do anything to make sure that 
your children have a better opportunity than what you have had.
  Just for a minute, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks) shared 
with us where he came from and how he got here and what he had to do as 
a young prosecutor in New York.
  I know the story of the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan). I remember 
when we first got here, the gentleman said, the last time I was here I 
was passing out papers in the hall and I worked for a Member of 
Congress.
  I thought that it was not only quite amusing, but I want to make sure 
that people know we did not just drop out of the sky and end up here in 
Congress.
  We also are Americans. We have gone through some things. We want to 
make sure that people like us do not have to continue to go through 
things, especially when we can provide and do better.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. That is right. I think a lot of people out there 
listening now who are young students who may not be tuning in tonight 
but, may be in the future, I do not think if you cross-reference the 
stories of those of us who are standing here, probably many of the 
Members here, the stories would be much different.

                              {time}  2115

  You work hard, you go to college, you get a summer job, you work in a 
steel mill in the summer, you cut grass in the summer, you do what you 
can to help move things along, and you hope that you are blessed with 
families who help you, parents who support you, grandparents who want 
to step in and support you to make sure that you can have what you 
have. That is becoming less and less available.
  I think part of the reason I am here is because I was blessed to have 
a family who was able to help me out. I was blessed to have a summer 
job. Kids today are not even going to be able to get a summer job, 
because the market is so terrible that people who have been unemployed 
for the last 7 or 8 months are taking the summer jobs FROM the college 
kids, so that job I got cutting grass at Trumbull County and I would 
drive the thing on the side of the highway and drop the arm down to cut 
grass to make 6 bucks an hour so you would have money in the summer so 
you were not a further burden, those jobs are not available. The summer 
employment working the steel mill on the midnight shift, those jobs are 
not available because no one is hiring.
  So there is a connection to all of this. It is not just about the 
student loans, it is about the economy, it is about the tax decisions 
that we are making here, it is about the money we are spending, it is 
about the deficits, it is about the irresponsible fiscal policies that 
we have here that are all, that are all affecting this for all students 
and people who are going to get a 2-year degree, or do not even go to 
school at all. They are still affected by the job market.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, just to the point, I have some 
information here. I am so glad the gentleman from Ohio segued into 
summer jobs. I worked in the summer and I worked every summer. I had to 
because my mom was like, you are going to go out and you are going to 
work. So right now, we have the Center For Labor and Market Studies at 
Northeastern University in Boston saying, right now we are experiencing 
the lowest job opportunity; summer jobs for teens this summer are 
expected to be at the worst since World War II, since the end of World 
War II. And I think it is so very, very important for us to see that 
and understand that.
  Kids that are going to be released from school soon that are going to 
have all day and idle minds to sit at home or even to get in trouble. 
They are usually productive because we provide an opportunity for those 
individuals to go out and get a job to hopefully help mom, dad or 
grandpa, whatever the case may be, are not going to have that 
opportunity.
  Not only the fact that we have a bad job growth experience right now 
in the United States, but the fact that companies that would usually 
carry out that goodwill gesture of saying, I am hiring some kids this 
summer, I am putting them to work, I am going to do the right thing, 
they cannot afford it. They cannot afford to do so, because they do not 
even have the job to give to a full-time person, their unemployment has 
expired and they do not have health care.
  I just wanted to give that point out.
  Mr. MEEKS of New York. Mr. Speaker, that has a lot of residual 
effect, actually, just on that, particularly for somebody who may come 
from a very poor neighborhood. Because what happens with a lot of those 
summer jobs, I am again being one of them and I could talk about some 
of my constituents, et cetera, they get exposed to different things 
they may never be exposed to by

[[Page H2533]]

that summer job, and that summer job gives them the motivation to 
continue to go to school to do something.
  But one of the other things I wanted to say that the gentleman from 
Ohio indicated which is very important, which I think that a lot of 
those of us who are, especially the 60-somethings and the 70-somethings 
now, should have institutional memory, because the gentleman from Ohio 
touched upon the fact that when they went to school on the GI Bill, et 
cetera, that they were able to become doctors and lawyers and 
accountants, et cetera.
  Well, let us take New York State, for example. Many of them back then 
had nothing to pay for school. Because if you went to the City 
University of New York or the State University in New York, tuition was 
free. That is what made us progress so quickly from the 1940s to the 
1960s, because we began and understood the importance in investing in 
education of our young people and we made higher education in public 
institutions free.
  And now, the gentleman gave the statistics or the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Linda T. Sanchez) gave the statistics earlier on, how 
every year the percentage on tuition rates are going up in our public 
institutions, and we will not have any money to help subsidize our 
public institutions. Why? Because we are $7.1 trillion in debt. So, 
therefore, we cannot help anybody who cannot do anything, because there 
is not going to be any money.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I find comfort in the fact that we 
will be back next week to have a similar discussion, and each week we 
are going to try to move to another subject on the issues that have 
arisen that week. But I just want to pause 1 minute and make sure that 
folks know, because we want to continue to listen to the American 
people and what they have to say about this. Thirty-Somethingdems at 
mail dot house dot gov, that is 30somethingdems, all one word, D-E-M-S, 
at mail.house.gov. I want to make sure that we understand how this 
thing works.

  I used to be a member of the State legislature in Florida for about 8 
years prior to my arrival here. I want to make sure the American people 
understand, because Members of Congress definitely understand, but the 
majority, the Republicans are looking the other way. That is the reason 
why we need an opportunity, Democrats need an opportunity to stand for 
all Americans. We are not here talking about the Democratic young 
person or working family experience. We are talking about the American 
family experience. We are talking about where the rubber meets the 
road. We are not talking about a cable news show where you have 30 
minutes on there and the dialogue is already slanted towards a 
particular position. We are talking about what is happening every day 
in America.
  I have constituents, and these student loan individuals call every 
day, harassing them, terrorizing them. And then, better yet, we have 
the banks that are fueling these individuals to say, we do not want a 
fixed rate, we want a variable rate, and they will say, well, it is low 
at the beginning and then eventually it has ballooned to the point 
where the interest rate is a tax on individuals. So I just want to 
mention how these things work.
  The gentleman from New York mentioned a $7 trillion deficit. So when 
we cut the Federal commitment to the States, the State governments, 
they look for the prey. Where can they cut? They are not like us. I 
mean we can go and, well, let us see, what credit card are we going to 
use today? We will use this one. We are just going to continue to 
charge. We are going to continue to knock on the door of the Bank of 
China saying, we need more money to pay down on the interest, not the 
debt, but just on the interest of the debt. They cannot do that.
  So what they do, they go and they pull in the chancellor of the 
university system and say, hey, listen, it all rolls downhill and 
students end up footing the bill of additional tuition increases. So 
what does that mean, an increase? One may say, well, it is not bad. 
They are just students. No. It hits home. Because guess what? Parents 
have to help. I mean the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks) talked 
about it. You have to come up again out of your wallet and guess what? 
You cannot afford to pull out your credit card every time. You have to 
go in this part of your wallet, which mine is empty at this particular 
time, you have to go into this part of your wallet and pull cash out or 
go to a family member or go to the credit union, or go to the title 
loan company, or go to a prime interest rate to make sure that your kid 
can stay in school.
  I just want to make sure the American people understand how this 
thing rolls downhill. When a Federal commitment is cut, the State has 
to cut their commitment, tuition rates go up and, I must say, just on 
case in point, for individuals that have a fixed rate that we have now, 
that I must say, senior members of the Republican Party are joining in 
with the banks to come up with this variable rate scheme that is put on 
by the banks, I must add, that borrowers default 8 percent of the time 
when they are able to consolidate their loans and 24 percent of the 
time with when they fail to consolidate their loans.
  So when you look at it, the 24 percent, guess who wins? Well, the 
American people lose because they back the loans. But the banks win 
because, guess what? They are able to do that $500 fee all over again.
  Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman can, before we run out of time, which I 
think we have about 10 minutes left, the gentleman from Ohio has to 
talk about this scheme that books are higher here in the United States 
than they are overseas. But before that, I am sorry, the gentleman from 
New York (Mr. Meeks) was in the middle of something.
  Mr. MEEKS of New York. Mr. Speaker, I would love to hear about the 
books, because I could tell my colleagues, I happen to be able to help 
my daughter, but I know what the cost of the books are, because I have 
to pay for them and I have to go into that billfold that the gentleman 
from Florida went into. Sometimes mine is empty, but it is empty 
because I have to pay for those books. I want to hear about the cost of 
books.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I would like to see the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Meek) pull his wallet out again.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, my son's birthday was yesterday and 
I pulled the wallet out. I have been married 12\1/2\ years and someone 
asked me for a 20 and I said, I have not seen one in 12 years. So I 
ended up opening my wallet and somehow gifts and things, and I am here 
and I am waiting for the end of the month.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, one issue before we get into the 
books, I want to talk about the GI Bill. I do not know how many 
stories, if this is anecdotal or what, but I have heard a lot over my 
lifetime about people who are in the greatest generation and they are 
telling the story of their life and they say, well, and then I went to 
medical school, or well, and then I went to become a lawyer. And I 
would always ask, well, why? And they said, well, I did not know what I 
was going to do and the GI Bill was going to pay for it, so I went.
  Now, how many kids are out there right now who, if we gave them that 
opportunity, they would say, I do not know what to do, I have a 
bachelor's degree in political science, I know I cannot make a very 
good living off that. What are you going to do? I am going to go to law 
school, I am going to go to medical school, I am going to go do 
something that is important.
  But I think one issue that we do want to touch on before we leave 
here is to talk a little bit about textbooks. And nothing, nothing in 
my educational career got me more hot under the collar than when I had 
to return a textbook that I paid, or my mother or my grandparents paid 
$120 for, and you bring it back at the end of the semester, and they 
will give you 5 bucks, 10 bucks back for it.
  So we have a piece of legislation here, just to shout out to all of 
the college students, we did not forget you. We know this is a major 
issue, we know this is a major problem.
  There are textbooks that are sold in the United States that are sold 
for half the price in England. So the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Wu), a 
Member of Congress here, has a bill that we are kind of jumping on that 
is going to ask

[[Page H2534]]

the General Accounting Office to investigate these high prices of 
college textbooks and the disparity of prices between textbooks sold in 
the United States and overseas. There is no way a textbook sold in the 
United States, written in the United States, published in the United 
States, copyrighted in the United States should be $100, and they are 
sold at a bookstore in England or in London for $50. There is no reason 
why that should happen. So we want to do an investigation. We want to 
see why that is.
  We are also on the brink, and I think we dropped it last week, of 
having a piece of legislation that would give parents or students a 
$1,000 tax credit for the price of college books. That should cover a 
good portion of the books that people spend in a year.
  Mr. MEEKS of New York. Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that the 
gentleman should say tax credit, very interesting, because this 
country, as we talked about earlier, about helping the rich, but 
showing the direction that we could move in.
  I want my colleagues to listen to this. John Kerry has what he calls 
a ``college opportunity tax credit.'' What this simply says, it will 
make 4 years of college affordable for all Americans. We are talking 
about all Americans here. He will provide a credit for each and every 
year of college on the first $4,000 paid in tuition, and that is the 
typical tuition cost and fees at our public institutions and 
universities. Senator Kerry's tax credit will be refundable to our most 
economically-vulnerable students and for those who receive other 
credits. That is the direction that we should be moving in.
  That is why the gentlewoman from California (Leader Pelosi) was here 
leading the 30-Something hour. That is why I think that we have the 
gentleman from Ohio here and the gentleman from Florida here and the 
gentlewoman from California who was here and others that are involved, 
that is the direction of continuing the greatness of America by 
investing in our young to make sure that their tomorrow is brighter 
than our today.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Well, I can tell my colleagues right now, this 
whole issue of taxes, who pays them and who does not pay taxes is the 
defining issue here. I think it is very important that the American 
people understand that I am so glad that we are here tonight talking 
about solutions. We have a bigger job, identifying and describing the 
problem, that is good, because we are the Congress, we are an 
investigative body, we are hopefully a body of action and correction. 
But I will tell my colleagues this: if we stand idly by and allow 
individuals to come in, rob future blood lines of families, Democrats, 
Republicans, Independents, you name it, like David Letterman said, if 
you live in Sioux City, Iowa, you should be able to receive a higher 
education, your grandchildren and your children.
  I will say once again, there is no greater prayer or hope that your 
children do better than what you have done, and the grandparents' 
philosophy is that their grandchildren have a better opportunity than 
what they had. And right now the way we are going, that is not 
happening.
  Now, we talk about how we are going to do certain things, we talk 
about promises, and I am so glad that the gentleman from New York 
mentioned what Mr. Kerry is talking about.

                              {time}  2130

  Mr. Bush, I can go forever talking about things that President Bush 
has said he was going to do that he has not; but tonight is not that 
night.
  It is what he said that he would do for students, what he would do 
for working families, and he said that he would make good on his 
promise in the 2000 election, that he would raise the maximum Pell 
grant award to $5,100 for college freshmen. That is just for college 
freshmen.
  The gentleman mentioned Senator Kerry wants to give a $4,000 tax 
credit every year. That is just not, we want to get you in school, but 
we are not necessarily concerned about you finishing school. Because, 
guess what, you got to take out that loan to make sure our friends at 
the banks are happy. That is what keeps this thing rolling.
  Instead of producing young minds, making them bright, making our 
country strong, we have a number of visas where we are shipping in 
people constantly to do the work that Americans could do if they were 
trained and if they had an opportunity to get that education.
  I am glad the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) mentioned his lawn 
cutting. I used to be a State Trooper in Florida. The gentleman was in 
Ohio so I did not pass him out on the highway while he was cutting 
grass. So I am glad the American people know that we are not from Mars. 
We are from the ranks of working people.
  I want to mention one other thing that is very, very important, that 
Americans that are able to receive good jobs, they are able to support 
our economy, also provide health care for their families, if they do 
not receive a college experience, fewer and fewer students are going to 
school today, are being denied education, more and more students are 
being denied education because of what? Cost and also the availability 
of classes and community college systems and the 4-year institutions 
because they are having to cut.
  Some of the chancellors, God bless them, they say we cannot go up on 
tuition any more, but what do they do then? They cancel classes or 
courses.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Maybe one of these weeks we could talk about No 
Child Left Behind. And I do not want to get into a K through 12 debate 
now, but it is the same issue. In Ohio, for example, the State 
legislature did a study, No Child Left Behind underfunded by $1.4 
billion. So now that means that the State, in order to fulfill their 
obligations to the Federal mandate, must come up with more money. Does 
that mean they will take more from the college subsidies for higher 
education that the State puts on? Does that mean more of an increase to 
the property tax of someone who is paying property tax in the State of 
Ohio? Where will we get this money?
  I guess the thing I want to communicate is that this is doable. The 
beautiful thing about this democracy is that it belongs to us. And if 
young people want to participate in this system and in an election from 
Republican to Democrat, then they can do it. There are enough students 
out there to make this happen.
  If you want the millionaires' tax cuts to go away or not necessarily 
even go away, just a portion of it going away to pay for this, that is 
doable. If you get active and you get involved, let us know, 
30somethingdems@mail.
house.gov.
  Let us know what your ideas are. We need young people to participate 
in this process and replenish this system because it has become very 
stagnant down here. It has become a very small group of people who 
raise money, dump it into this institution, get the legislation they 
want. That legislation helps them make more money and they take their 
profits and it is a cycle that goes on and on. And the only thing that 
combats that is democracy and young people getting involved in the 
process.
  Mr. MEEKS of New York. Just what we are talking about, showing that 
you have a plan and moving away, Senator Kerry talked about his College 
Opportunity Tax Credit, but he also understands the deficits that the 
universities are having. So he also has a plan. It is called the State 
Tax Relief and Education Fund where Senator Kerry will help States 
struggling to bridge deficits resulting from the Bush economic policies 
with $25 billion to stop educational cuts and tuition increases across 
the country.
  So it seems to me we are moving in the right direction. He also is 
talking about service for college so that if, in fact, he will initiate 
an offer to Americans to earn the chance of the equivalent of the 
State's 4-year public college tuition in exchange for 2 years of 
service. Senator Kerry will set a goal within the next decade of 
enlisting 500,000 young people a year in service for college. Steps in 
the right direction. Educating our young people, making it affordable 
for them and strengthening our country. This is what America is all 
about.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. If you are a young student sitting at home right 
now, watching this or hearing about these policies, what would you 
rather have? That is that democracy. It is that simple. What would you 
rather have, tax cuts? A millionaire getting $130,000 back or a program 
like this where you will get a credit for your textbooks; you will get 
``I Have a Dream Scholarships'' for your community service;

[[Page H2535]]

help the States to make sure that they do not cut back; tax credits; 
increase in the Pell grants. What do you want?
  If you are a student and you want certain things, then you have to 
get out and participate in the system.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. As we close here tonight, I want to thank the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Meeks) and also the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Linda T. Sanchez) 
for their assistance and help here today.
  We ask American people to continue to tune in and communicate with 
us. I want to commend the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) for 
putting this together. We thank the Speaker for the opportunity to 
address the House and the American people tonight.

                          ____________________