Nancy Pelosi, the first female speaker of the House of Representatives,
spoke Feb. 19 at ASU, addressing college students on the issue of
making higher education more affordable.
“The key to a better future, individually for people and a stronger America as a country, is education,” Pelosi said.
On Pelosi’s first domestic trip outside of Washington, D.C. and her
home district of San Francisco since she became Speaker of the House, a
lively crowd welcomed the newly elected Speaker to the town-hall style
meeting.
“The leverage has changed in Washington D.C.,” Pelosi said. “The power
is with you. No more will you see legislation that comes to the floor
that says ‘We’re going to cut our student loan assistance in order to
give a tax cut to the wealthiest people in our country.’”
Approximately 400 students and citizens packed ASU’s Arizona Ballroom
at the event sponsored by the Arizona Public Interest Research Group,
Associated Students of Arizona State University and Arizona Students’
Association. Another 400 students unable to get tickets watched the
live feed of the event in an overflow room.
The topic of affordable education has become an issue as the financial
burden of college education has steadily increased over the years.
Arizona PIRG notes that between 1993 and 2004, the average debt for
college graduates with loans increased 107 percent to $19,200.
Two-thirds of college graduates in 2004 finished school with student
loans.
The College Student Relief Act of 2007 lowered interest rates on
student loans over the next five years for 5.5 million low- and
middle-income student loan borrowers. The House passed the bill on
Jan.17 by a vote of 365 to 71.
“So answering the call for a new direction that we heard in November,
we came into power in a bi-partisan way and passed some legislation…not
everything, but a beginning that would signal a change, that would
signal the importance of issues that were evaded that were relevant to
the lives of the American people,” Pelosi said.
The Senate is expected to take up the issue later this spring.
Joining Pelosi at the event were Arizona Reps. Harry Mitchell, Ed Pastor and Raul Grijalva, and California Rep. Barbara Lee.
All the representatives spoke briefly on the topic of education, with
Pastor addressing another significant issue facing Arizona: immigration.
In response to Proposition 300, which was approved by voters in
November and requires students with undocumented U.S. citizenship to
pay out-of-state tuition, Pastor noted upcoming legislation titled “The
Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act,” also known as
the DREAM Act.
“Possibly in the first couple of weeks in March, a bill will be
introduced that will have three elements of immigration reform:
security on the border, a guest worker program and a pathway to
legalization,” Pastor said. “Part of the three elements will be the
DREAM Act that assists students who came here undocumented and have
graduated from high schools and qualified for universities and
community colleges, and (will allow them) to be able to attend.”
Several NAU students were in attendance. Amy Presson, sophomore
international affairs major and ASA task force director at NAU, said
she was satisfied with the event.
“Nancy Pelosi is a pretty good speaker,” Presson said. “I was expecting
a little more toward what they are planning on doing, a little more
factual information behind it. But it was good to see students rally
around education, and rally around getting out to make a difference. I
think she’s going to do a really good job this year in Congress.”
Colby Seay, senior international affairs major, said the event could have been better.
“I felt she didn’t really answer the question of education, how they’re
going to fund it, what they’re going to do with it,” Seay said. “I was
disappointed. I mean, I think she’s really cool. I’d like to hear her
speak (again), but I’d like to hear her speak on the actual issues, not
just a rally.”
In addition to her remarks about affordable education, Pelosi praised
Arizona’s representatives for being in the forefront of some key
congressional issues.
“Just look at Arizona in talking about immigration,” Pelosi said. “In
the House and in the Senate, Arizonans are leading the way. We talked
about raising the minimum wage as part of our 100-hour agenda, and
Arizona is leading the way.”
