[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 4 (Friday, January 9, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H145]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                IMPROVING HIGHER EDUCATION AFFORDABILITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DOGGETT. Madam Speaker, in these tough economic times, our 
families need all the support that we can provide them. Whatever we can 
do to assist those who seek more education and training to better 
prepare themselves for this tougher, tighter job market and rising 
unemployment and under-employment rates, we need to do.
  That's why today, Representative Tom Perriello and I, joined by a 
number of our colleagues on the House Ways and Means Committee, are 
introducing the College Learning Access Simplicity and Savings Act. We 
want to put more students in class. It will make our ability to assist 
students to gain access to our institutions of higher education much 
easier. Students and their families can benefit from additional and 
more simplified tax credits for higher education expenses.
  Last year, legislation that I offered simplified the student 
financial aid forms. Now, this legislation will take on the 1040. 
Today, higher education provisions are needlessly complex. It takes IRS 
an 86-page brochure to explain to families how to use the existing tax 
credits for higher education. The complex process is so challenging 
that 1 in 4 eligible taxpayers don't claim any of the benefits 
available. It shouldn't take a certified public accountant to become a 
CPA, or a teacher, or an engineer. This legislation would consolidate 
some of the existing provisions into a single, unified, easy-to-
understand, higher education tax credit that is both more generous and 
easier to use.
  Our bill joins the Hope Tax Credit (currently up to $1,800 per year) 
with the above-the-line tax deduction for qualified tuition and 
expenses (currently tax deductible up to $4,000). We replace all of 
this with a new $3,000 tax credit that is usable for undergraduate 
education and the first 2 years of graduate school, up to a lifetime 
limit of $12,000. Up to half of this new tax credit would, for the 
first time, be refundable. This ensures that working folks, families 
that are struggling to become part of the middle class, will no longer 
be excluded from this higher education tax credit.
  This bill is, of course, no substitute for a substantial increase and 
an acceleration of those Pell Grant increases Congress has already 
enacted. But tax relief, done in a refundable form, can work hand-in-
hand with Pell Grants to ensure more opportunity.
  We are justifiably concerned with the federal deficit, but there's a 
real opportunity deficit we need to be concerned with also. When our 
students are not able to achieve their full, God-given potential, a 
deficit occurs, and it is that deficit, that opportunity deficit, that 
this legislation seeks to address.
  I respectfully call on our new President-elect to consider inclusion 
of this legislation in the economic recovery legislation that this 
Congress must adopt as soon as possible. Investing in American students 
is an investment in America's future. Putting Americans to work means 
ensuring that they have access to all the education for which each is 
willing to work.
  It was Thomas Jefferson who urged public support of higher education, 
wanting the youth of all our states to ``drink from the cup of 
knowledge.''
  Today, there are students who are thirsty for that knowledge, but 
they confront a number of challenges. Mr. Perriello and I, and our 
colleagues, hope to address those challenges, and we hope we will have 
the opportunity to see this legislation enacted into law in the next 
few weeks.

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