Education
Democrats are committed to ensuring all Americans have access to a high-quality education. If our nation is going to remain the world’s leader, we must not lag our global competitors in education. Democrats are focused on making higher education and skills training more accessible, reducing high school dropout rates, and providing students with the support they need to secure well-paying jobs. From day one, the Trump Administration has undermined protections for and disinvested in America’s students. President Trump’s budget proposes to cut teacher training and literacy programs and reduces funding for the schools and communities most in need. Congressional Republicans have also proposed extreme funding bills that dramatically cut education and job training programs, threatening our ability to build a competitive workforce and help more Americans find good-paying work. Democrats are fighting to protect families from these harmful cuts and have a strong record of making investments that will strengthen education. Democrats have increased Pell grants, cut red tape in the loan process, and made it easier to repay student loans once students join the workforce. Democrats also enacted a major reform bill that ended wasteful taxpayer subsidies to big banks and directed the savings to helping students instead. Democrats also made record investments in community colleges and minority-serving higher education institutions.
Today marks the two-year anniversary of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act being signed into law by President Obama. This law, passed by a Democratic-led Congress, makes higher education more accessible and affordable:
But there is no balance in this proposal. Seniors, middle class, vulnerable, working Americans are asked to pay the price of this agreement. And, indeed, not only are they asked to pay the price, but the best-off among us is asked to do the least. That's not the America of which we are all proud that has worked together, sacrificed together at times, to come together to make a joint contribution to the welfare of this country.
The Democratic Whip’s office has created the following online quiz to show how the Republican budget will impact seniors, the middle class, working families, and the most vulnerable by refusing to ask the wealthiest among us to contribute.
The Chairman of the Budget Committee has spoken of a choice between two futures. He is correct in framing it this way. The budget he proposes would end the Medicare guarantee, cut taxes for the wealthiest, and place our economic recovery at risk.
Last week, House Republicans put forward a more-of-the-same budget that ends the Medicare guarantee while protecting tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, and puts our economic recovery and jobs at risk. While Republicans were clear that they want to protect tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and place the burden of deficit reduction onto seniors, the middle class, working families, and the most vulnerable, their budget left several questions unanswered.
They have offered a budget that is somewhat a reprise of last year's. It savages Medicare, turns the guarantee into a higher cost, problematic benefit. We don't think that's what the American people want. Secondly, it makes again the tax disparities between our people even greater. It shifts resources from the middle class and poor to the wealthiest in America. It gives $150,000 additional tax cut to millionaires and doesn't say how you're going to pay for that, $10 trillion in additional tax cuts, which clearly means you're going to explode the deficit even more. They pretend they will cut out preference items. They also in that process severely undermine investments in our future, investments in education, investments in research, investments in growing jobs, investments in infrastructure. Clearly, with the result of diminishing the quality of our society in the long run, and don't get to balance.
Last week, House Republicans introduced a budget for fiscal year 2013 that is a repeat of the budget they put forward last year. It ends the Medicare guarantee while protecting tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, and according to the Economic Policy Institute, puts four million jobs at risk. Instead of pursuing a budget that creates jobs, strengthens entitlements, reduces the deficit in a balanced way, and asks all Americans to contribute their fair share, the Republican budget makes the wrong choices.
Yesterday, Republicans unveiled a more-of-the-same budget for fiscal year 2013 that ends the Medicare guarantee while protecting tax cuts for the wealthy, and puts our economic recovery at risk. The Republican budget makes the wrong choices and places the burden of deficit reduction onto seniors, the middle class, working families, and the most vulnerable by refusing to ask the wealthiest among us to contribute. Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan called on the American people to make a choice between two futuresfor our nation. Here’s a look at our future under the Republican budget – and the future Democrats envision instead.
Today, Education and the Workforce Committee Ranking Member George Miller, Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, and Rep. John Tierney introduced the Workforce Investment Act of 2012.
As an early educator, my wife Judy devoted her career to helping provide children with the opportunities, care, and support they deserve. Before she passed away in 1997, Judy had already impacted the lives of so many children in Prince George's County, Maryland, where she oversaw the county's early education programs.