House May Provide $87 Billion In Financial Aid For Students

Congressman George Miller (D-CA) said Tuesday the House will consider an $87 billion piece of legislation aimed at making college more affordable.

“The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act ... will allow us to invest $87 billion dollars to make college more affordable, to build a world class community college system, to improve opportunities for our youngest students to succeed and to pay down our deficit,” Miller said during a press conference.

According to Miller, the Act represents the single largest investment of federal college aid in history. Miller said it would give students more help in covering their tuition and expenses, including a historic investment in the Pell Grant Scholarship program, better opportunities to prepare for 21st century jobs and improved financial aid programs.

Miller stressed that Congress will be able to do this with no cost to the taxpayers by undertaking what he described as long overdue student loan reform.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said that improving education is essential to recovering the U.S. economy, adding that it will also improve the U.S.' standing in the international community.

“People still think we do lead the world [in education]. That hasn’t been true for probably two and a half decades. We’re stagnated, we’re flat-lined and other countries have passed us by,” Duncan said.

“We’re not asking the taxpayers for one single dollar. We’re simply making the choice to stop subsidizing banks, to invest our young people back here,” Duncan added.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the President's outlook of economic recovery had three pillars: education, healthcare and energy policy.

“This was in the context of a budget that was fiscally sound that we gave tax cuts to America’s middle class would reduce the deficit,” Pelosi said.

D.C. Mayor Unveils First School Produced By $2 Billion Education Campaign

By Mariko Lamb-Talk Radio News Service

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty unveiled the Walker Jones Education Campus Tuesday, a new $50 million K-8 public school that is part of an eight year, $2 billion campaign to rebuild and modernize all schools in the sixth congressional district.

The 100,000 sq. ft. campus includes a 20,000 sq. ft. recreation center and a 5,000 sq. ft. library that will be open to the public during non-school hours. This campus is the first in D.C. to combine a school with a public library, recreation center, and athletic amenities.

"[Projects are being completed] on-time, on budget, and we get more out of these public projects than you’d see in any private sector buildings," Fenty said during the opening ceremony.

The campus is part of what Fenty described as a "grander vision" to improve the Northwest #1 neighborhood near Capitol Hill, noting that the project created more than 150 jobs during its construction. The mayor ensured that he will “keep working to make sure those jobs keep going to neighbors around the projects.”

“So many great schools in our area are finally seeing the upgrade that they deserve,” he said. Although D.C. schools are “not all the way there,” Fenty said, “if you had to pick three school districts in the entire country that are headed in the right direction, according to any of the top critics, we would make everybody’s top three list.”

Democratic Senators Praise Progress Of Health Care Reform

By Mariko Lamb- Talk Radio News Service

Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), and Barbara Mikulski (D-Md) praised the Affordable Health Choices Act that passed through the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP) Wednesday.

“We’re not going to sit with the status quo. We’re moving ahead with healthcare reform,” said Senator Harkin.

“[The bill] offers to fix what is broken in our healthcare system without ruining that which works in our nation,” said Dodd. “It offers every American choice, stability, and lower costs.”

Although the bill passed through the committee with a 13-10 vote, not one Republican member voted in favor of the legislation. Regardless, Dodd praised the Republicans’ contribution to the markup of the bill, which includes 160 Republican added amendments. “I know that some of our Republican friends don’t want to admit their contribution, but they made good contributions to the bill, and we listened,” he said.

“Now is the time to rejoice on what we’ve done, but the battle must go on,” said Mikulski. HELP’s Affordable Health Choices Act is expected to be merged with a healthcare bill by the Senate Finance Committee, which is under pressure from President Obama to release its version as early as next week.

Youth Have Key Role To Play In America's Future, Say Top Democrats

The younger generation has a key role to play in the fight to pass health care and climate legislation said prominent Democrats to students Wednesday. President Bill Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius spoke at the Campus Progress National Conference, which brought together over 1,000 progressively minded students from across the United States.

President Clinton said America's youth "cannot just sit on the sidelines" of politics and must focus on the "how" when it comes to energy, health care and education policy.

"The answer can not just be more money...you have to look at the delivery system...Your life will be shaped by America's success of failure to do that," the former President said.

"These are mind numbingly difficult problems" he said, "[But] America works when we are all sort of stumbling in the right direction."

Speaker Pelosi praised student activists groups from across the country for the lobbying they have done in order to promote the Democrats' agenda. The Speaker said she was encouraged by the increase in youth mobilization and urged how imperative it is to passing new legislation.

"I have so much confidence in the future," she said.

Secretary Sebilius also spoke to the students about the importance of their participation in the health care reform debate.

"Not doing anything is not an alternative," she said.

Through the administration's proposed health care reform, "we have an opportunity to not only increase the health of America but also the wealth of the nation" said the Secretary.

Among other speakers at the conference were White House Green Jobs Special Adviser Van Jones, Daily Show Correspondent John Oliver and pop star Joel Madden.

"Do you know who inspires him [President Obama]? You," said Jones to the delighted crowd.

Senators Want Health Coverage For Those With Pre-Existing Conditions

By Courtney Costello-Talk Radio News Service

At a hearing Tuesday morning, Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) discussed their desire to provide affordable health care for Americans with pre-existing medical conditions.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is currently marking up The Affordable Health Choices Act, in which measures would be put in place to prevent insurance companies from denying people coverage, regardless of whether or not they have pre-existing health conditions.

“The present situation is unacceptable [and] it is unsustainable economically. We’ve got to move forward to get this legislation done, or we are going to bankrupt families,” said Dodd.

Title III of the bill, Improving The Health Of The American People, would include the preventive measures that would also help to drive down the costs of health care.

The bill would insure that Americans are not discriminated against by private insurance companies, said Harkin.

“Affordable quality health care is going to put a stop to a gross injustice in our current system, the denial of coverage to persons who have pre-existing conditions,” said the Senator from Iowa.

Senator Dodd hopes to have the amendment process for the bill finished by the end of this week.