"Light and liberty go together."
--Thomas Jefferson,1795

Investment in education is an investment in the future of American families and the middle class. A good education leads to good jobs and allows people to provide well for their families. Without a strong, accessible, affordable educational system, the middle class cannot stay strong and help our economy grow.

The GI bill is an enormously successful example of what happens when millions of Americans are given tuition assistance for higher education. Millions were able to enter the middle class, including my father, a World War II Navy veteran, who went to college on the GI bill.  So it was a real pleasure to become an original cosponsor of the GI Bill for the 21st Century (H.R. 5740). The new GI Bill completely restores full, four-year college scholarships for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans-on a par with the educational benefits available after World War II.  It covers the cost of the most expensive in-state public college, and allows the transfer of unused education benefits to a spouse or children.  I am proud of this legislation, signed into law on June 30, 2008, which will provide today's veterans the same bridge to the middle class that the World War II generation had.

Unfortunately, a college education is increasingly out of reach for a large percentage of students. About half of all students qualified for college cannot afford to attend a four-year college, and nearly a quarter can't afford any institution of higher learning, according to the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance.

That's why we needed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (H.R. 2669), which represents a new investment in higher education-the largest since the original GI bill-to protect the strength of the middle class for the next generation. As a member of the House Education & Labor Committee, I was proud to cosponsor the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (H.R. 2669), which was signed into law on September 27, 2007.  It makes college more affordable for middle-class students and families by reducing interest rates on subsidized federal Stafford Loans for undergraduate students.  This reduction will save the average student in New Hampshire more than $2,500 over the life of their loan.

As of July 1, the federal student loan interest rate has been lowered to 6.00%.  The rate cut, from 6.8% to 6.00%, is the first of a series of cuts that will take place over the next three years, as part of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007. In addition, this legislation will continue to lower interest rates in phases over the next three years, finally ending at a rate of 3.4% in 2011. The bill includes my amendment to increase Pell grants by $860 million, without any additional cost to taxpayers.

In June 2007, I introduced a bill (H.R. 2700) to stop the U.S. Department of Education from making harmful changes to the Upward Bound program, which helps low-income, first-generation, and minority high-school students.  These changes would have interfered with the effectiveness and delivery of this valuable program.  During the Higher Education reauthorization this year, I worked very hard and succeeded in ensuring that the bill included a provision similar to H.R. 2700. At a celebration of this success at the University of New Hampshire-Durham in July of this year, I had a chance to meet the Upward Bound students, program staff, and university officials.  I told them that education is the key to prosperity and that my job in Washington is to make sure they have the same opportunities as everyone else in this great country.

The Higher Education Opportunity Act (H.R. 4137) also includes a provision to provide for more flexible student financial aid consideration when families care for an adult dependent. A constituent who had contacted my office brought the need for this important change to my attention. Working together through the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, we were able to expand the discretion given to school financial aid administrators when they put together student financial aid packages. My provision allows school financial aid administrators, when calculating a student's financial aid package, to consider expenses incurred by families who are caring for an adult dependent.

In order for nation to continue to be prosperous, we also need to invest in the education of our workforce.  I was pleased to vote for the America COMPETES Act (H.R. 2272), which was signed into law on August 9, 2007.  It establishes funding for math and science education, for research and development, for energy independence, and for our small businesses.  The bill provides money for scholarships for 25,000 teachers in math, science and engineering.  We will need this talent if we are to prepare our children to compete in the global economy. 

While higher education accessibility is important, preschool and elementary education provides the essential foundation. We passed the Improving Head Start Act of 2007 (H.R. 1429), which reauthorizes Head Start and provides 10,000 more children with access to Head Start services. The Head Start program offers the nation's most at-risk children a chance to succeed in school. It truly is a "head start" for those who badly need one. As a former social worker, I know the difference this can make. It gives them the possibility of a better future.

I continue to have reservations about the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), a program with worthy intentions but a large unfunded mandate, which has imposed heavy burdens on states and schools. At my request, House Committee on Education and Labor Chairman George Miller (D-CA) came to New Hampshire to listen to concerns raised by teachers, principals, school board members, and superintendents. This roundtable discussion was frank and productive, and Chairman Miller received a great deal of feedback about the problems our state has with the implementation of the law. As a member of the Education and Labor Committee, I am working to restore the flexibility and fairness that is necessary for the success of our schools.

I was also proud to cosponsor the No Child Left Inside Act (H.R. 3036), which will provide federal funding for K-12 environmental education. One of the unintended consequences of the performance-based No Child Left Behind program has been a decrease in the number of non-core subjects offered-such as music, art, and environmental education - that are not monitored by tests.  These programs have become victims of teaching to the test and of insufficient funding, and are being cut.  The No Child Left Inside Act would reverse this decrease in the number of environmental education programs by providing additional funding and grants.

As Thomas Jefferson famously noted in 1816, "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."  We must continue this investment in education for the sake of our future prosperity.