Mr. WU. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the rule and the conference report. This bill contains many excellent provisions that will help Oregon and, indeed, all American families better afford college.
For example, the legislation increases the Pell Grant from the current $5,800 per year ultimately to $9,000 per year, and it makes it available for year-round education. It streamlines the Federal student aid application process, restores integrity and accountability to the student loan industry, and encourages colleges to better manage tuition and price increases.
There are two provisions that I am particularly proud of and supportive of in the bill. One is a provision intended to make textbook prices more transparent and manageable. This is something that I have been working on for over 5 years. It provides students with advance information on textbook pricing so they can better plan for expenses before each term begins. It assists faculty by ensuring that they have complete information on textbook pricing before making purchase decisions, and it requires textbook publishers to provide combined or bundled educational products separately for purchase.
This bill also establishes a program for low-income Asian American students in title III of the bill. Through the new program, grants will be made available to eligible institutions where at least 10 percent of the student body is Asian American and low-income. And this will have a significant impact on the aspirations of all Americans, and this has been an aspiration of the Asian American community for a long time.
I strongly support this conference report and urge the other Members to support it.
