| 00:00:00 | OUR SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND WE'VE ALWAYS UNDERSTOOD THAT PEOPLE'S ABILITY TO ACCESS EDUCATION IS PART OF FOR MANY YOUNG PEOPLE THE WAY THEY HELP TO REALIZE THE AMERICAN DREAM FOR THEMSELVES AND THEIR FAMILIES. |
| 00:00:12 | WE'VE ALWAYS PRIDED OURSELVES AS A DEMOCRACY ON THIS MOBILITY THAT, YOU KNOW, NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE, IF YOU WANT TO AND WORK HARD ENOUGH, YOU CAN GO TO COLLEGE AND AFFORD TO, YOU CAN BUILD A BETTER LIFE FOR YOURSELVES AND YOUR FAMILY. |
| 00:00:25 | THIS MOBILITY SAKE PART OF OUR -- OF THE AMERICAN SUCCESS STORY. |
| 00:00:29 | I READ RECENTLY, A PIECE IN THE "TIMES," WHERE WE'RE IN A TIME WHEN THAT MOBILITY IS BEING THREATENED. |
| 00:00:36 | COLLEGE ACCESS IS PART OF THAT CHALLENGE. |
| 00:00:38 | AND IF WE ARE GOING TO PRESERVE THE MOBILITY THAT MADE THIS DEMOCRACY SO TRONG AND SO GREAT, WE HAVE TO BE SURE WE PROTECT ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WHO ARE PURSUING IT. |
| 00:00:50 | IT'S NOT ONLY THAT IT'S GOING TO BE AN INCREDIBLE HARDSHIP ON FAMILIES BUT WE'LL BE CRUSHING THE DREESMS MANY YOUNG PEOPLE. |
| 00:00:57 | THEY'RE GETTING THESE DECISIONS IN THE MAIL, SOME OF THE YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE TO DECIDE, I CAN'T GO TO THE COLLEGE OF MY CHOICE. |
| 00:01:04 | I CAN'T PURSUE THIS DREAM I HAVE BECAUSE I'M NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO AFFORD TO PAY BACK THESE LOANS AT THESE INTEREST RATES. |
| 00:01:12 | WE'RE GOING TO BE CRUSHING DREAMS OF YOUNG PEOPLE, AS YOU SAID, WE CAN FIX IT. |
| 00:01:17 | THIS IS EASY. THIS IS SOMETHING WE CAN DO BY CON GREGS ACTION ACTION AND WE SHOULD DO IT, WE SHOULDN'T WAIT 73 DAYS. |
| 00:01:23 | I WAS ALWAYS TAUGHT, I THINK WE ALL WERE, THAT EDUCATION IS THE KEY. |
| 00:01:28 | I COME FROM A STATE THAT UNDERSTANDS THAT. |
| 00:01:30 | HOME OF SENATOR PELL. |
| 00:01:32 | WE UNDERSTOOD EDUCATION IS THE KEY OSUCCESS AND ACCESS TO EDUCATION FOR OUR FUTURE AND THE FUTURE OF YOUNG PEOPLE. |
| 00:01:40 | THIS IS WRONG, IT'S GOING TO HURT FAMILIES, IT'S GOING TO HURT OUR ECONOMY. |
| 00:01:44 | WE'VE GOT TO TAKE ACTION. |
| 00:01:46 | I THANK YOU AGAIN FOR ORGANIZING TONIGHT'S DISCUSSION. |
| 00:01:48 | MR. |
| 00:01:49 | COURTNEY: I WANT TO PICK UP ON A COUPLE OF POINTS BUT CERTAINLY THE POINT, CONGRESS -- |
Mr. CICILLINE. I just want to say that I think one of the things that we sort of recognize and are very proud of as Americans is that we have always revered our system of higher education and that we have always understood that people's ability to access education is part of, for many young people, the way they help to realize the American Dream for themselves and their families. We've always prided ourselves as a democracy on this mobility: that no matter who you are, if you want to and if you work hard enough, you can go to college and you can afford to, and then you can build a better life for yourself and your family. This mobility is really a key part of the American success story.
I read recently a piece in The Times about our living in a time now when that mobility is really being threatened, and college access is part of that challenge. If we are going to preserve the mobility that has made this democracy so strong and so great, we have to be sure we protect access to higher education for the young people who are pursuing it.
It's not only that it's going to be this incredible hardship on families, but we're going to be crushing the dreams of many young people. As you said, as they're getting these decisions in the mail, some young people are going to have to decide, you know, I can't go to the college of my choice. I can't pursue this dream I have because I'm not going to be able to afford to pay back these loans at these interest rates.
We're going to be crushing the dreams of young people. As you said, we can fix it. This is easy. This is something we can do by congressional action, and we should do it. We shouldn't wait 73 days. I was always taught--I think we were all taught--that education is the key. I come from a State that understands that. As I said, it's the home of Senator Pell. We understood education to be the key to success as well as the access to education for our own futures and the futures of young people. We've got to fix it. This is wrong. It's going to hurt families. It's going to hurt our economy. We've got to take action.