Ric Keller

Mr. KELLER of Florida

Mr. KELLER of Florida. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise today in support of the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act. As the ranking member on the Higher Education Subcommittee and founder and chairman of the Pell Grant Caucus, I am honored to be a cosponsor of this important legislation. How did we get here? The troubles that began in the subprime mortgage market have had a ripple effect on our economy, impacting all types of consumer credit. Unfortunately, that includes student loans. As a result of these disruptions in the financial markets, students and families all across the country are worrying about how they will pay for college this fall. Through no fault of their own, middle class families are worrying that their children may have a difficult time getting the financing they need for college. At least when it comes to Federal loans, there are steps we can take now to prevent that from happening. That is why I support this bill before us. This bill will increase loan limits by $2,000 to undergraduate students, it will give students more flexibility in their loan payment options, and it includes provisions that will help generate more low- interest loans. Additionally, the savings achieved in this bill will provide more aid to full- and part-time eligible students through national SMART grants. This is how SMART grants work. If you are eligible for a traditional Pell Grant and you major in math, science or foreign languages that are critical and you have a B average, you will be able to get an additional $4,000 above and beyond the maximum award of $4,800. This bill expands that to allow full- and part-time students to partake. That means we will be helping a total of approximately 100,000 students who are majoring in math and science and critical languages, and also helping ourselves, because we desperately need more math and science majors. I have a chart here regarding our strong support for Pell grants on a bipartisan basis to put this bill in perspective. Since I came to Congress in 2000, I have noted that we have increased Pell Grant funding by 149 percent, from $7.6 billion to $18.9 billion. We have increased the maximum award from $3,300 to $4,800, an increase of 45 percent. Now, with this new expanded legislation for more part-time students to get these SMART Grants, those particular students in math and science will get, as I said earlier, $8,800 in eligible grants. And, finally, and particularly significantly, we have made it possible for an additional 1.9 million students to go to college, an increase of 49 percent from 3.9 million students getting Pell Grants in 2000 to 5.8 million today. Making sure that college is affordable has been a bipartisan priority of this Congress. This bill will help ensure access to college for many worthy students and provide much needed stability to the student loan market at a time when it is most important to our college students. I want to thank Chairman George Miller, Chairman Hinojosa, and Ranking Member McKeon for their speedy and bipartisan work on this bill. I want to thank my colleagues in the Senate for turning this legislation around so quickly and adding some key provisions dealing with the SMART Grants. I also want to thank the White House for indicating its strong support of this legislation and their willingness to sign it upon arrival. For these reasons, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 5715, and let's make college more affordable for all young people.

Mr. KELLER of Florida

Mr. KELLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe), the coauthor of this resolution.

Mr. KELLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of House Concurrent Resolution 330, recognizing April as National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. Every 2\1/2\ minutes, a person is sexually assaulted in the United States. Sadly, one in six women have been victims of rape or attempted rape. Two-thirds of these assaults are committed by someone known to the victim, and yet only 40 percent of sexual assaults are reported to the police. Sexual Assault Awareness Month attempts to change these startling statistics by promoting educational programs, victim support services, advances in DNA and forensics technology, and aggressive prosecution and incarceration of sexual offenders. National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month helps to educate the public about sexual violence in our communities and the long-term effects on these victims. It also recognizes the selfless work of staff and volunteers at rape crisis centers and other community organizations across the United States that provide counseling and victim support services to sexual assault survivors. This year, the featured event of Sexual Assault Awareness Month was ``Shop to End Sexual Violence.'' Businesses throughout America pledged to donate a percentage of their sales during April to increase awareness of sexual violence and promote community involvement in reducing these crimes. With education and community support, it is my hope that more victims will pursue prosecution of their attackers by reporting these assaults. Once the victims take the first and critical steps, it is up to lawmakers and law enforcement to ensure these violent offenders are put away. Earlier this month, the Judiciary Committee held a hearing on H.R. 5057, to reauthorize the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Program. The Debbie Smith Program, originally authorized in 2000, awards grants to State and local governments to reduce the DNA backlog of samples collected from crime scenes and the backlog for entry into the national DNA database. Through these grants, State and local governments received funding to test approximately 104,000 DNA cases between 2004 and 2007. These grants have also funded the collection of 2.5 million DNA samples from convicted offenders and arrestees for inclusion in the national DNA database. The Department of Justice estimates that over 5,000 ``hits'' or matches are the result of this DNA backlog reduction. This is a positive step forward, but we must continue our efforts to reduce the DNA backlog to provide justice for sexual assault victims and put their attackers behind bars for good. I wish to thank my Judiciary colleague, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, for sponsoring this resolution, and also thank Congressman Ted Poe for taking the lead on our side of the aisle in moving forward this important resolution. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER of Florida

Mr. KELLER of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise in support of the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act. As the ranking member of the Higher Education Subcommittee, I am proud to be a cosponsor of this important legislation. I want to especially thank Chairman Miller, Chairman Hinojosa and Ranking Member McKeon for their hard work in the drafting of this legislation on a bipartisan basis. The troubles that began in the subprime mortgage market have had a ripple effect on our economy, including all types of consumer credit. Unfortunately, that also includes student loans. As a result of these disruptions in the financial markets, students and families all across America are worrying about how they will pay for college this fall. Through no fault of their own, students may have a more difficult time getting the financing they need for college. Well, at least when it comes to Federal loans, there are things we can do now to prevent that from happening. Today we are taking positive steps to make sure that students have access to low-interest student loans, despite the recent turmoil in the financial markets. This bill was developed on a bipartisan basis to take preliminary action to shore up the Federal Family Education Loan Program and to offer new flexibility and protections to students and their families. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to the troubles facing our student loan program. I appreciate the fact that the Financial Services Committee is also looking at these issues and that we may be exploring additional action in the future that more directly addresses issues of liquidity. At this time, however, this is a good bill that will have a positive impact, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' and support its passage.

Mr. KELLER of Florida

Mr. KELLER of Florida. Madam Speaker, I have remained in Orlando, with my wife and our new daughter who was born on Monday, March 3. If I had been present yesterday, I would have voted in the following manner: Rollcall 103: ``nay''; Rollcall No. 104: ``nay''; Rollcall No. 105: ``yea''; Rollcall No. 106: ``nay''; Rollcall No. 107: ``nay.''

Mr. KELLER of Florida

Mr. KELLER of Florida. Madam Speaker, I have remained in Orlando, Florida with my wife and our new daughter who was born on Monday, March 3rd. If I had been present yesterday, I would have voted in the following manner: Rollcall 91: ``yea''; Rollcall 92: ``yea''; Rollcall 93: ``yea''; Rollcall 94: ``nay''; Rollcall 95: ``nay''; Rollcall 96: ``nay''; Rollcall 97: ``yea''; Rollcall 98: ``yea''; Rollcall 99: ``nay''; Rollcall 100: ``yea''; Rollcall 101: ``yea''; Rollcall 102: ``yea''.

Mr. KELLER of Florida

Mr. KELLER of Florida. Madam Speaker, I have remained in Orlando, Florida with my wife and our new daughter who was born on Monday, March 3rd. If I had been present yesterday, I would have voted in the following manner: rollcall 88: ``yea''; rollcall 89: ``yea''; rollcall 90: ``yea.''

Mr. KELLER of Florida

Mr. KELLER of Florida. Madam Speaker, I have remained in Orlando, Florida with my wife as she prepares to give birth to our second child. If I had been present yesterday, I would have voted in the following manner: rollcall 78: ``nay''; rollcall 79: ``nay''; rollcall 80: ``nay''; rollcall 81: ``nay''; rollcall 82: ``nay''; rollcall 83 ``nay''; and rollcall 84: ``nay.''

Mr. KELLER of Florida

Mr. KELLER of Florida. Madam Speaker, I have remained in Orlando, Florida with my wife as she prepares to give birth to our second child. If I had been present yesterday, I would have voted in the following manner: Rollcall 72: ``nay''; rollcall 73: ``nay''; rollcall 74: ``nay''; rollcall 75: ``yea''; rollcall 76: ``yea''; rollcall 77: ``nay.''

Mr. KELLER of Florida

Mr. KELLER of Florida. Madam Speaker, I have remained in Orlando, Florida with my wife as she prepares to give birth to our second child. If I had been present yesterday, I would have voted in the following manner: rollcall 69: ``yea''; rollcall 70: ``yea''; and rollcall 71: ``yea.''

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER of Florida

Mr. KELLER of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition, although I am not opposed to the amendment.

Mr. KELLER of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this amendment and yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the coauthor of this amendment, the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle).

Mr. KELLER of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition, although I am not opposed to the amendment.

Mr. KELLER of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. I also will be supporting the Ryan-Altmire amendment. I am not so far removed from college and law school that I don't remember the days when you would go to buy your textbook at the bookstore. Often you'd be required to buy a particular textbook written by that professor and get sticker shock that this particular book is $120. When you talk to the publisher, sometimes they say, well, it's not our fault. We sold it to the bookstore at 60 bucks and they marked it up to 120 bucks. And when you talk to the bookstore people they said, no, it's their fault because they told us an abnormally low suggested retail price and made us look bad. I don't know whose fault it is. All I know is we've got to get some relief to these college and law school and graduate students who are forced to buy particular books. This seems to at least try, and whatever we can do to try to help these kids who are spending $900 to $2,000 a year we owe it to them to do. So I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this bill. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of our time.

Mr. KELLER of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition, although I am not opposed to the amendment.

Mr. KELLER of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle).

Mr. KELLER of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition, although I am not opposed to the amendment.

Mr. KELLER of Florida. Madam Chairman, this is a very creative outside-the-box way to provide an incentive to recruit mentors for at- risk kids, and I commend the author of this amendment, Congressman Crowley, for coming up with this idea; and I will be voting for it. I had a mentor myself when I was a young child in Big Brothers Big Sisters program. When I got a little older and became an adult, I became a mentor to high school students through the largest mentoring program in Orlando, Florida, called Compact, which provides mentors to children who are at risk of dropping out of school. I then became chairman of the board of that organization; chairman of the Mentoring Caucus, once I got to Congress; and a coauthor of the Mentoring for Success Act with Congressman Tom Osborne, which is now part of No Child Left Behind. I tell you this by way of background, because I know that the hardest thing in mentoring organizations is recruiting mentors. I gave in 1 year 50 speeches to Rotary clubs and Kiwanis clubs to recruit 700 mentors, and it was very difficult because sometimes you only get folks to mentor for 1 year. But I saw that once you invested the time towards recruitment, it made a difference. That program, Compact, has a 95 percent success rate in keeping kids in school. As Congressman Crowley alluded to, that helps all of us in terms of lower incarceration rates. Right now, 75 percent of the inmates in our jails and prisons nationwide are high school dropouts. State prisons cost taxpayers $20,000 a year; Federal prisons, $25,000 a year. If we can say to community college students, Hey, we want you to do the right thing by providing an hour a week as a mentor, or more, and by the way, if you do, we will help you financially for $10 an hour for every hour you mentor for a year, that creates a pretty good pool of folks that we can look to to do the right thing and have a financial incentive. I congratulate you for this innovative approach. I never thought of it, but am impressed with it, and will be voting for it. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote for it as well. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER of Florida. Madam Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition, although I am not opposed to the amendment.

Mr. KELLER of Florida. Madam Chairman, we have no objections to this amendment, will be voting ``yes.'' I urge my colleagues to do the same, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER of Florida. Madam Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition, although I am not opposed to the amendment.