Pelosi to graduates: 'You can make change'
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi granted an exclusive interview with The Journal immediately after the May 12 commencement ceremony
By: Kelley Atherton
Issue date: 5/3/07 Section: News
During the interview, Pelosi pointed to young adults and what they can do to create peace. She said young adults have the ability to change the country and our foreign policy by making demands of their government leaders. The technology available to communicate in "real time," as she put it, allows young adults to congregate online, email their representatives in Congress, write blogs, and make their political views known without resorting to violence.
Education, she emphasized, is the key to making this change. She elaborated on a point she made in her speech about how universities are forums where values are learned and the knowledge to spread peace and understanding is cultivated. However, college is expensive and students are bogged down with student loan debt, which she said is our government's fault.
"Nothing has grown the middle class more and grown our economy (than education)," Pelosi said. "And yet what have we done in the last few years? Our country has made student loans more expensive. That has an impact on people individually and our country in general. It's a bad choice; it's a very bad decision."
Pelosi said she has strived in Congress to cut student loan interest rates. In January, the House of Representatives overwhelming approved the College Student Relief Act of 2007, cutting federal student loan interest rates in half from 6.8 to 3.4 percent over a five-year period. The Senate has yet to vote on the bill.
Earlier in her speech, Pelosi quoted the country's second president John Adams and his desire for a stable country where young adults can take jobs they want. In order to create a nation that Adams envisioned, Pelosi said the older generations must work to make the country secure for future generations.
"People want a different future than the path we're on," Pelosi said. "Why should we spend a trillion dollars on a war without an end? When we could be investing in the education of our children, advancing health care initiatives that remove the uncertainty from people's lives and where we can create the jobs for the future that young people want."
Education, she emphasized, is the key to making this change. She elaborated on a point she made in her speech about how universities are forums where values are learned and the knowledge to spread peace and understanding is cultivated. However, college is expensive and students are bogged down with student loan debt, which she said is our government's fault.
"Nothing has grown the middle class more and grown our economy (than education)," Pelosi said. "And yet what have we done in the last few years? Our country has made student loans more expensive. That has an impact on people individually and our country in general. It's a bad choice; it's a very bad decision."
Pelosi said she has strived in Congress to cut student loan interest rates. In January, the House of Representatives overwhelming approved the College Student Relief Act of 2007, cutting federal student loan interest rates in half from 6.8 to 3.4 percent over a five-year period. The Senate has yet to vote on the bill.
Earlier in her speech, Pelosi quoted the country's second president John Adams and his desire for a stable country where young adults can take jobs they want. In order to create a nation that Adams envisioned, Pelosi said the older generations must work to make the country secure for future generations.
"People want a different future than the path we're on," Pelosi said. "Why should we spend a trillion dollars on a war without an end? When we could be investing in the education of our children, advancing health care initiatives that remove the uncertainty from people's lives and where we can create the jobs for the future that young people want."
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