[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 23412]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          INTRODUCTION OF THE COLLEGE OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 25, 2003

  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to submit, 
with fifty-one of my colleagues in the House, the College Opportunity 
for a Better America Act.
  Higher education has long served as a critical vehicle to move the 
country forward and provide the opportunity for a better life to 
millions. But too many low and middle income students and their 
families are struggling with soaring college costs, taking on mountains 
of debt and working long hours that hurt their academics and overall 
college experience. And still many others cannot afford to attend 
college at all.
  The College Opportunity Act for All will establish innovative 
programs to allow students to earn their degrees quicker, increases 
opportunities for Latino families to pursue advanced degrees, and 
encourages the best graduates to pursue public service careers.
  Republican tax policy and education budget cuts have weakened 
American higher education at exactly the time that more people need 
college training to be competitive in the global marketplace. Instead 
of meeting that challenge, virtually every state--crippled by federal 
policies that increased national and state debts--is cutting college 
funding and raising tuitions at public colleges: a one-two punch that 
is closing the doors of higher education to millions including 
disadvantaged and minority students and those who need more education 
to find new jobs. And the President has frozen the major federal higher 
education grant program, forcing students to take on more debt or forgo 
college.
  The College Opportunity Act for All goes in a very different 
direction--it would increase college opportunities for millions of 
Americans through smart investments and innovations.
  The College Opportunity Act for All will: Allow student borrowers 
burdened with high interest rates to refinance their loans and save 
money; stop the unfair tax on working students, allowing students who 
work to save more of their earnings for college costs; double the 
maximum federal college scholarships (Pell Grant) to $11,600 by 2011, 
to help restore its buying power; establish a new competitive grant 
program to expand graduate-level degree programs at Hispanic Serving 
Institutions; greatly increase the investment in all Minority Serving 
Institutions, providing the resources necessary to serve the burgeoning 
population of minority students; provide public service scholarships to 
students who pursue careers in teaching, nursing, and other national 
high priority needs which are having difficulty recruiting and 
retaining trained personnel; and drastically simplify the student aid 
application.
  While we must address the problem of spiraling tuition this year, 
however we must not take the wrong-headed approach of Republican 
proposals that would impose price controls and punish innocent students 
for tuition raises they have no role in determining. Instead we must 
address the fiscal policies that result in states' cutting aid to 
colleges and thus forcing students to pay higher tuitions.
  The future of our economy hinges on the ability of young people to 
afford college. Nearly 2 out of the 3 new jobs that will be created 
over the next 7 years will require some post-high school training. If 
we can lower the current 32 percent gap between college participation 
by low and high income young adults, we could add $250 billion in gross 
domestic product and $85 billion in tax revenue that will help to 
strengthen the economy.
  The Republican tax cuts and budget cuts have devastated states and 
along with the weak economy pushed higher prices onto college students 
and their families and now the Republicans propose slashing funding to 
colleges in retribution for tuition increases. That means even more 
tuition increases for students, and a weakening of our higher education 
system. We have to work with the states, who are forcing tuition 
increases because of education cutbacks, to craft a solution that 
brings tuition costs down.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in honoring this tradition 
by supporting the College Opportunity for a Better America Act. It is 
an important step towards making college more affordable and accessible 
for all Americans.

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