[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 2945]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           A FUNDAMENTALLY INCOMPATIBLE STRATEGY ON EDUCATION

  (Mr. BISHOP of New York asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BISHOP of New York. Madam Speaker, if we want to maintain our 
edge in the global economy, we should fully fund the President's 
competitiveness agenda proposed in his 2007 budget. Regrettably, 
however, the promise of a more competitive American workforce is 
simultaneously undermined by his other budget proposals to freeze Pell 
grants for the fifth year in a row and recall the Federal portion of 
the Perkins loan revolving fund.
  This hypocrisy builds on the Republican record on student aid: $12 
billion in cuts to loan programs; failure to extend the tuition 
deduction; and a 3- year-long impasse over renewing the Higher 
Education Act.
  Madam Speaker, calling for deep cuts in access to higher education 
while advocating a competitive workforce is a fundamentally 
incompatible strategy. Where Congress dropped the ball, colleges are 
taking the lead in providing tuition assistance to disadvantaged 
students through matching grants and need-based discounts. We should be 
encouraging more universities to follow suit, instead of discouraging 
colleges and aspiring students through misguided cutbacks.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to keep this in mind as we take 
up the budget resolution in the weeks ahead.

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