[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 1629]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      A COLLEGE EDUCATION FOR ALL

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, making higher education available to 
everyone has to be a top priority, and the President's budget makes a 
major commitment to increasing access to high-quality education from 
preschool through college, particularly at our Nation's community 
colleges. With the high cost of attending a 4-year institution, 
community college is often a viable option to so many driven students 
who are seeking a higher degree without incurring overwhelming debt.
  In the President's addresses, he addresses the challenges that so 
many students face today. In his proposal, his budget makes 2 years of 
high-quality community college free to responsible students, saving 9 
million students an average of $3,800 a year in tuition.
  In my home State of New Jersey and across the Nation, community 
colleges offer educational opportunities to students just beginning 
higher education, to people already in the workforce who are looking to 
gain additional training, and for the unemployed looking to change 
careers. The President's proposal could benefit them all and countless 
others for whom higher education currently seems unattainable.
  I would just hope that my Republican colleagues across the aisle will 
join us in making sure that a college education is an attainable goal 
for all Americans.

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