Student Aid And Fiscal Responsibility Act Of 2009

Floor Speech

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Mr. HARE. Madam Chair, I rise in strong support of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act. I am particularly pleased with the investment that this bill makes in the Pell Grant, early childhood education, and our Nation's community colleges.

H.R. 3221 provides $76.1 million to increase the maximum Pell Grant in my congressional district to $6,900 by the year 2019. Additionally, over 16,700 Illinois students will now be eligible for Pell scholarships.

The legislation also includes my amendments to remove barriers to expanding access to early learning programs to disadvantaged children, and to encourage States to implement positive behavioral supports in their early childhood education system.

Finally, I added provisions to make west central Illinois's community colleges more competitive for college completion grants and to direct the Institute of Education Sciences to collect data on the location of grant recipients, ensuring that the most remote American communities are accessing funding opportunities.

Again, H.R. 3221 takes bold steps towards improving the accessibility of higher education, invests in our children, and focuses on the important role community colleges play in economic development.

I commend my chairman, Chairman Miller, and President Obama for this visionary initiative, and I urge all my colleagues to support it.

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