Washington, DC - Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) made the following comments after President Barack Obama signed the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act into law:

 “Today President Obama signed into law legislation that will help to rebuild and protect the middle class by relieving the burden of their health care costs and by providing them with an affordable avenue to achieve higher education.  For the families I represent in Michigan’s 15th District, this legislation means 488,000 residents will have improved health coverage, and the 21,000 students in the 15th District who are eligible for the Pell Grant will now see its buying power increased.

 “The health of our economy depends on the health of the American people.  This law will hold the health insurance companies accountable, make health insurance more affordable for the middle class and will close the Medicare Part D “donut hole” that hits so many seniors.

 “I have long believed that we cannot attract the employers and industries we want to Michigan unless we ensure our workers have the skills and education needed to compete in the 21st Century workforce.  Unfortunately, in order to pay for this education, parents are taking out private loans with higher and higher interest rates, and students are working two or three part-time jobs to cover the cost of tuition, textbooks and room and board.  The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act will guarantee students using loans do so at an affordable rate, will ensure that college graduates can afford their student loan payments, and will increase the buying power of the Pell Grant to keep pace with inflation.  Furthermore, this law will invest $2 billion over four years in our community colleges, so that the hundreds of community colleges that are overwhelmed by increased enrollments can make the improvements they need to provide a quality education to their students.”

 Other higher education investments included in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act include:

•  Provides $36 billion over 10 years to increase the maximum Pell Grant award to $5,550 in 2010 and $5,975 by 2017;
• Includes $750 billion to increase funding for the College Access Challenge Grant, which offers access and completion support for students;
• Invests $1.5 billion in the Income-Based Repayment program and lowers the monthly cap to 10 percent of new borrowers income after 2014;
• Converts all new federal student lending to the Direct Loan Program, which will save taxpayers $61 billion over 10 years; and,
• Reduces the deficit by $10 billion over 10 years. 

Congressman Dingell was a cosponsor of the original student loan reform legislation, H.R. 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, whose reforms were included in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, and the author of the House passed health reform legislation, H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act.

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