[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11400]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     RISING COLLEGE EDUCATION COSTS

  (Ms. WATSON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, as a Nation, we should encourage our young 
people to strive to achieve their full potential. We must give them the 
resources and opportunities to make their dreams a reality. For many 
students these dreams begin with access to higher education.
  But after 6 years of Republican rule, access to college is now out of 
reach for too many of our Nation's youths. Since 2001, tuition and fees 
at 4-year public colleges have increased by 40 percent. At the same 
time, Republicans have made drastic cuts to higher education, including 
underfunding Pell Grants and cutting the higher education budget by $12 
billion this year alone.
  These cuts not only mean that more students have to take out loans to 
pay for college, but they will also face higher interest rates as they 
pay them back unless they refinance by July 1. That is when the 
Department of Education will raise Federal student loan interest rates 
to offset the Republican cuts.
  As Members of Congress, we should be doing everything in our power to 
make college more accessible and affordable for all students, rather 
than cutting critical education dollars to fund tax breaks for the 
wealthy few.

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