[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 8009-8010]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       MAKING COLLEGE AFFORDABLE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Kildee) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Speaker, ensuring students can afford college is 
vital to ensuring our Nation's competitiveness in a global economy. A 
majority of new jobs in the next decade will require a college degree, 
which makes higher education an economic necessity for most Americans. 
Ensuring all students have the opportunity to go to college will 
strengthen our economy, grow our middle class, and invest in our 
future.
  Yet, education costs continue to rise year after year, pricing some 
people out of an education. College costs have dramatically increased. 
Over the last decade, the cost of attending a 4-year institution has 
increased 66 percent over the rate of inflation. For 2-year 
institutions, tuition and fees for students have increased 47 percent 
beyond the rate of inflation. According to the College Board, the 
annual cost of attending an in-State public college is now well over 
$22,000 a year. These rapidly rising costs are pricing hardworking 
families and students out of an education.
  Congress can--and must--act to ensure college remains affordable for 
hardworking families, and there are things that we can do to do just 
that.
  First, Congress must act immediately to prevent student loan interest 
rates from doubling on July 1. I've supported the Student Loan Relief 
Act, which would extend the current student loan interest rate, 3.4 
percent, until 2015. Unfortunately, the Republican plan passed last 
week, the Making College More Expensive Act, would put college out of 
reach for many of my constituents and students across this country. I 
opposed the Republican plan, which would create a variable loan 
interest rate system, letting student loan rates spike, forcing 
students to pay higher interest rates.
  I continue to believe that students deserve the certainty of a fixed 
student loan interest rate. An ever-changing rate, as the Republican 
plan would provide, would create more anxiety and uncertainty for 
millions of families, and that's just the wrong approach. Hardworking 
students and parents have already been saddled with $1 trillion of 
student loan debt. Congress should be working to ease that burden.
  It's time that Congress return to regular order and prevent student 
loan interest rates from doubling at the end of the month. That means 
doing what we

[[Page 8010]]

were sent here to do: going to conference to work out the differences 
between the House-passed version and the expected Senate version of 
this bill. The clock is ticking, and rates for millions of students 
will double on July 1 if we don't act.
  Congress shouldn't let rigid partisanship get in the way of 
preventing what equates to a massive tax hike on students and their 
families. Instead, let's do our job and legislate. Disagreement on 
parts of a bill is not an excuse for delay.
  Second, we should enact legislation to allow families to save more 
for college. Recently, I introduced a bill with my Republican 
colleague, Congressman Tim Walberg, giving greater flexibility to 
families to save money for tuition, books, and other educational 
expenses. This bill, the Helping Families Save for Education Act, would 
increase existing caps on Coverdell savings accounts and allow families 
to contribute more over longer periods of time.

                              {time}  1030

  These types of accounts offer families a tax-advantaged choice to 
save for a child's educational expenses.
  Currently, families or beneficiaries can contribute a maximum of 
$2,000 a year. Our legislation would increase the maximum contribution 
annually for most working families. Families and students, under our 
legislation, would also be able to save for college for an additional 4 
years, until the student turns 22 years old.
  Third, we must continue to provide and fully support Pell Grants, 
which provide needs-based grants to low-income students. No one who 
wants to go to college should be priced out of doing so. So I, along 
with my Democratic colleagues, stand ready and eager to ensure a 
college degree remains in reach for every student, no matter what their 
means.
  Finally, we must keep the cost of attending college low by continuing 
direct State and Federal support to universities. In my home State of 
Michigan, we are blessed with great public institutions that provide a 
world-class education to our citizens.
  Unfortunately though, in recent years we've seen direct financial 
support to these universities slashed. Such cuts are then passed on to 
students and families. If investing in education remains a priority for 
this Nation, we must invest in college for our students.
  I ask a simple question: What's more important than the education of 
our children?

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