[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 41 (Tuesday, April 4, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E510-E511]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               COLLEGE ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITY ACT OF 2005

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. EARL POMEROY

                            of north dakota

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 29, 2006

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 609) to 
     amend and extend the Higher Education Act of 1965:

  Mr. POMEROY. Mr. Chairman, I rise to say that I will be voting 
against H.R. 609. In this age of rising global competitiveness, 
graduating from college has never been more important for America's 
students. However, as

[[Page E511]]

the importance of obtaining higher education is rising, so is college 
tuition and the amount of debt that students must borrow to earn a 
college degree. Since 2002, the cost of college has increased over 40 
percent, with North Dakota's largest schools increasing their tuition 
by double digits in the past two academic years. In addition, last year 
9.7 million students received federal education loans, with the typical 
student borrowing $15,500 to finance a bachelor's degree.
  In this climate, the bill before the House today does not adequately 
address the problem of college accessibility. First, the bill does not 
reverse the changes made in the budget reconciliation bill passed 
earlier this year, which included the largest cuts to the student aid 
program ever. The reconciliation bill increased interest rates for new 
loans to students and parents and imposed new consolidation fees on 
borrowers, making the repayment of loans more difficult. Second, 
although H.R. 609 does include some improvements to aid programs, these 
changes are not adequate to address the problems outlined above. For 
example, although H.R. 609 increases the maximum Pell grant award, the 
award was only increased $200--not enough to meet the increasing costs 
of college tuition. Unfortunately, H.R. 609 does not do enough for 
students and parents facing college costs and I am hopeful that this 
bill can be improved as it progresses through the legislative process.

                          ____________________