[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 15]
[House]
[Pages 20068-20069]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




CONGRESS SHOULD MAKE COLLEGE MORE AFFORDABLE TODAY BY PASSING LABOR-HHS 
                                  BILL

  (Mr. CLYBURN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, for 6 years now, Washington Republicans 
have done absolutely nothing to help college students better afford 
college. President Bush promised to increase Pell Grants during his 
first presidential election in 2000, but has refused to live up to that 
promise. The maximum Pell Grant has been frozen for 4 straight years, 
and now only covers 32 percent of tuition costs.
  Inaction was not the problem earlier this year when the Republican 
Congress raided student aid programs. Our Republican colleagues raided 
$12 billion from college education programs, forcing the Education 
Department to raise interest rates on college loans to over 8 percent.
  Democrats reject these Republican actions. At a time when college 
students are confronting skyrocketing tuition costs, we think this 
Congress

[[Page 20069]]

should be coming up with creative solutions to help college students 
better afford their education.
  Today, we should pass an improved Labor-HHS appropriation bill that 
restores the massive cuts in college tuition assistance imposed on this 
Congress and expand the size and availability of Pell Grants.

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