In the overflowing Arizona Ballroom in ASU's Memorial Union, protected from the drizzle and wind outside,
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, along with U.S. Reps
Barbara Lee (D-CA9),
Raul Grijalva (D-AZ7),
Ed Pastor (D-AZ4), and
Harry Mitchell (D-you know where :) ) spoke to over 700 people of all ages about efforts in Congress to make a college education more affordable for America's working and middle classes.
After being introduced by Elizabeth Simonhoff, Vice-President of the ASU Undergraduate Student Government, Speaker Pelosi started off by letting the assemblage know that it was a great personal and political pleasure for her first non-district trip as speaker to be to Arizona. The personal part is that her daughter and her family live here; in fact, her son-in-law teaches in Tempe and her grandchild attends school in Scottsdale. [Note: she'll be visiting that school tomorrow.]
She also gave a plug for the AZ Congressfolk present, as well as
Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ8), for their work to make higher education more affordable.
Pelosi spoke for a while on the importance of education, and educational opportunity, to achieving the American dream, and to the greatness of America throughout our history.
She moved on too talking about the Democrats' 1st 100 Hours agenda, and how the passage of that agenda signalled a change in Washington. She also noted the bipartisan support in the House for reducing education's financial burden on America's families.
Pelosi promised that what has been done so far (lower student loan interest rates from 6.8% to 3.4%) is "only a start" and that there's more to come.
When Harry Mitchell rose to cheers and a chant of "Harry! Harry! Harry!", he talked about how the average ASU grad started with a debt of $15,000 and that number is rising, and that expanding access to education is a prime goal of this Congress.
Ed Pastor drew the biggest laugh of the day when he mentioned "compassionate conservatives," noting that most of their compassion is for the very rich. He noted that under this administration, Pell Grant funding has been reduced, student loan interest rates were increased, and the wealthiest got a tax cut.
He compared Congress' passage of the continuing resolution to fund the government (after the "do-nothing" 109th Congress failed to do so), a CR that contained an increase in Pell Grant funding with the President's latest budget proposal, which includes an increase in Pell Grants, but takes the money from other financial aid programs.
Pastor drew a loud round of cheers when he told the audience that Congress would tackle immigration in March, and that their immigration reform act would include the
DREAM Act (link to 2004 bill; I'll post a link to the new one when I can find it.)
Raul Grijalva got a chuckle at the beginning of his speech when he admitted that "maybe everything has been said already, but *I* haven't said it. He spoke about some of the goals of this Congress, which include increasing funding for loans, lower interest rates, a goal of a $5100 Pell Grant and a loan forgiveness program for people who go to work in areas of need.
He said that it was time to "stop the raid on higher education" and talked about how 400,000 students per year delay or forgo their education due to the cost, and the need to change that.
Barbara Lee bonded with the crowd by letting us know, that like Speaker Pelosi, she has family living in Arizona, including her mom, dad, and an aunt.
She advised us that her career in Congress can be credited to student financial aid - the education that placed her on the path to public service and elected office that she received at Mills College and UC-Berkeley was only available to her because of financial aid.
She also called for America in general, and Congress in particular, to "reorder our priorities so that education stays at the top of the national agenda."
After the guests of honor finished their speeches, they took some questions from the audience before adjourning, letting the crowd out into the pounding sprinkles.
Notes from the day:
...A broad cross-section of Democratic Party notables was present today - before the session, Attorney General Terry Goddard, Scottsdale Mayor Mary Manross, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, and former Senator Dennis DeConcini were introduced. Others in the crowd, and I'm pretty sure I didn't everybody who attended, included new Kyrene Constable Jon Levenson, MCDP Chair Mark Manoil, State Representative Ed Ableser, and State Representative David Schapira. Governor Napolitano had a scheduling conflict with the afternoon event, but was supposed to meet with the Speaker in the evening, and Congresswoman Giffords is in Iraq.
The notices about the event advised attendees to arrive an hour early to ensure a seat; I arrived over 90 minutes before the start of the forum, and there were already hundreds in a line that snaked around that level of the Memorial Union.
Highlight of the day, pre-event: walking by the ASU Republicans' table outside the MU, with four Republicans seated at it, talking to each other. They *had* to talk to each other - no one else was at the table. :))
Highlight of the day, post-event: meeting the Speaker and talking to her for a moment. I made a crack about how I would have introduced her as "The First Italian-American Speaker." She laughed, saying that she was also "The First Californian...," and "The First Marylander..." among other firsts.
It was
seriously cool. :))
Geo at Geo's Precinct 134 has his coverage
here.
Overall, it was a great day, but the right-wing media is already starting its spin:
The Phoenix Business Journal's
story about the event focused on the appointment of Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) (of the $90K cash in the freezer fame) to the House Homeland Security Committee, not on the event itself.
Later!
