Congresswoman Gwen Moore Calls on Conferees to Fund Pell Grants

Press Release

Congresswoman Gwen Moore Calls on Conferees to Fund Pell Grants

Today, Congresswoman Moore and Congressman David Wu of Oregon called on House and Senate Conferees for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to fund certain higher education initiatives that are fundamental to the nation's long-term economic recovery. While these provisions passed in the House earlier this month, the Senate's Economic Recovery Package has pared down and stripped out vital funding meant for students, universities, and community colleges.

"Families are sacrificing to finance their kids' education - whether they attend a four year university, a community college, or a technical school," said Rep. Moore. "While I understand that the Senate underwent tenuous negotiations to build a bipartisan coalition, it is incredibly shortsighted to slash the very dollars that will give students and the institutions that serve them the tools needed to compete in the 21st century."

Congresswoman Moore and Congressman Wu are encouraging conferees to include the House passed- maximum of $5,350 for Pell Grants, which helps low-income students pay for their tuition. In addition, they have asked conferees to include money for higher education school repairs and modernization.

"This is a stimulus package, and it's a package about jobs. Funding for school modernization and repairs is a direct pipeline to job creation, because someone has to build these improvements. Including the House-passed measure for higher education facility improvements would lead to over 1,000 jobs in my district alone," said Congresswoman Gwen Moore.

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