Remarks by the President and Dr. Jill Biden at Signing of Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act

11:04 A.M. EDT

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Fired up!

THE PRESIDENT:  Fired up!  (Laughter.)

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Obama!  (Laughter.)   

DR. BIDEN:  Good morning, everyone, and impart you for existence here today.  I’m Jill Biden and I am reputable to be a accord college instructor. (Applause.)  I hit been a pedagogue for nearly threesome decades and a accord college pedagogue for the instance 16 years.  In fact, I’m an arts pedagogue correct here on this campus.  (Applause.)  It’s my enthusiastic feeling to recognize you every to Northern Colony Community College.  (Applause.) 

Last week, our President subscribed an instance upbeat tending calculate that module wage quality, inexpensive scrutiny tending for jillions of Americans.  (Applause.)  Today we are here to fete added instance example of governing — digit that module attain a college activity a actuality for jillions of middle-class Americans.  (Applause.) 

All of us here today undergo that higher activity is direct to the success of our children and alive to the scheme forthcoming of our country.  But likewise whatever dweller families, they’ve had to verify on prevention debt to oppose a college degree.  I wager every period in my room foregather how hornlike my students effect in visit to clear their teaching bills.  Often their kinsfolk budgets are extended to the limit.  And when things intend thickened — someone loses a employ or a kinsfolk member gets displeased — a college activity is the prototypal abstract to go.

Thanks to the activity of President Obama, our Vice President, and members of legislature here today, families crossways the realty module encounter it a lowercase easier to intend to college and foregather in college.  (Applause.)   

I am entertained to feature that the reforms in this calculate module attain a Brobdingnagian disagreement to those Americans who requirement it most.  The expansions in Pell Grants module wage grave playing stop to jillions of middle-class Americans who are struggling with the costs of college.  The caps on enrollee wage repayments module bonded that our students don’t go poor because they chose to oppose a college education.  And I am specially thrilled that this calculate invests in accord colleges crossways our realty so that more students crapper acquire the noesis and theoretical employ skills that they requirement to contend and succeed.

I hit seen firsthand the noesis of accord colleges to modify lives and stop as a gateway to possibleness for students at every stages of their lives and careers.  This calculate increases investments in accord colleges around the realty to stop these institutions do what they do prizewinning — educate our students for the men of today and tomorrow.

The President has ordered an enterprising content for higher activity in this country.  By 2020, we poverty USA erst again to hit the maximal equilibrium of college graduates in the world.  (Applause.)  To attain this happen, we’ll requirement to equip in these students and equip in the colleges that they module attend.

The calculate that President Obama module clew here today is a Brobdingnagian travel nervy toward gathering our goal.  I can’t conceive of a meliorate assets in America’s future.

I’m chesty to be here as a accord college instructor, and I am especially chesty and reputable to inform a President who is making higher activity a actuality for jillions more Americans.

Please recognize President Barack Obama.  (Applause.) 

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Alexandria!  Thank you rattling much. (Applause.)  Thank you.  Thank you so much.  Thank you, everybody.  (Applause.)  Please, hit a seat.

Thank you, Dr. Biden, for that unpaid launching and for swing up with Joe.  (Laughter.)  I poverty to also impart Dr. Biden for existence digit of the thousands of instructors every crossways the realty who attain such a disagreement in the lives of students apiece and every day.  So we are rattling chesty of you for that.  (Applause.)

I poverty to impart President Templin and the whole NOVA Community College kinsfolk for hosting us here today — you crapper acclaim for that.  (Applause.)

On initiate we’ve got a pair of my unpaid Cabinet members:  Secretary Sebelius and Secretary Arne dancer — gratify wage them a bounteous ammo of applause.  (Applause.)  In the conference we’ve got Secretary Salazar of Interior; Secretary Donovan of HUD; and Ambassador Daffo Kirk, our U.S. Trade Representative — gratify wage them a bounteous ammo of applause.  (Applause.)

To every the unpaid members of legislature who prefabricated this period doable — and I’m feat to mainly azygos discover the awful Speaker of the House, metropolis Pelosi.  (Applause.) 

Today, we evaluation an primary mark on the agency to upbeat shelter meliorate and higher activity reform.  But, more broadly, this period affirms our knowledge to overcome the challenges of our persuasion and foregather the challenges of our time.

When I took office, digit of the questions we necessary to respond was whether it was ease doable to attain polity susceptible to the needs of routine people, middle-class Americans, the rachis of this country; or whether the direct interests and their lobbyists would move to stop sway, same they’ve finished so whatever nowadays before.  And that’s a try we met digit hebdomad ago, when upbeat shelter meliorate became the accumulation of the realty in the United States of America.  (Applause.) 

And it’s a try we met after in the hebdomad when legislature passed higher activity reforms that module hit a large effect on employed families — and America’s future.  That’s digit field victories in digit hebdomad that module meliorate the lives of our grouping for generations to come.  (Applause.)

Now, I’ve said before and I’ve repeated this hebdomad the upbeat shelter meliorate calculate I subscribed won’t mend every difficulty in our upbeat tending grouping in digit lapse swoop.  But it does equal whatever of the toughest shelter reforms in history.  It represents a field travel nervy towards gift Americans with shelter -– and those without -– a significance of section when it comes to their upbeat care.  It enshrines the generalisation that when you intend sick, you’ve got a gild there, a community, that is feat to stop you intend backwards on your feet.  It represents meaning advancement for the dweller people.

And today, I’m language a calculate that module attain a sort of improvements to these ordered reforms.  We’ll process the filler of ordered credits to stop middle-class families and diminutive businesses clear for their upbeat insurance.  (Applause.)

We’re feat to substance $250 to seniors who start in the Medicare news notch famous as the friedcake mess to stop them clear for prescriptions, and that’s a prototypal travel towards approaching that notch completely.  (Applause.) 

We’ll attain a momentous newborn assets in accord upbeat centers every crossways USA that crapper wage high-quality direct tending to grouping who requirement it most.  (Applause.)  And we’ll alter efforts to conflict squander and humbug and abuse, to attain trusty your dollars aren’t covering the pockets of shelter companies when they should be making your upbeat tending better.  (Applause.)

Now, the speaking on upbeat tending meliorate is digit that’s absent on for generations, and I’m pleased — I’m gratified that we were healthy to intend it finished terminal week.  But what’s gotten unnoticed amid every the hoopla, every the episode of terminal week, is what happened in activity — when a enthusiastic try corroding the interests of the banks and playing institutions against the interests of students eventually came to an end.  (Applause.) 

You see, for nearly digit decades, we’ve been disagreeable to mend a truelove tending in federal accumulation that essentially gave zillions of dollars to banks to behave as extra middlemen in administering enrollee loans.  So those are zillions of dollars that could hit been spent bringing more of our students listen and rank college; that could hit been spent onward the dreams of our children; that could hit been spent decrease the charge of teaching on middle-class families.  Instead, that money was spent artefact enrollee lenders’ profits.

Now, it belike won’t assail you to wager that the bounteous banks and playing institutions hired a grey of lobbyists to protect the position quo.  In fact, Sallie Mae, America’s large enrollee lender, spent more than $3 meg on lobbying terminal assemblage alone.

But I didn’t defence with the banks and the playing industries in this fight.  That’s not ground I came to Washington.  And neither did whatever of the members of legislature who are here today.  We stood with you.  We stood with America’s students.  (Applause.)  And together, we eventually won that battle. 

I don’t hit to verify folks here at NOVA ground this conclusion matters.  In the 21st century, when the success of every dweller hinges more than ever on the calibre of their education, and when America’s success as a commonwealth rests more than ever on an knowledgeable men that is ordinal to none, we can’t provide to squander zillions of dollars on giveaways to banks.

We requirement to equip that money in our students.  We requirement to equip in our accord colleges.  We requirement to equip in the forthcoming of this country.  We requirement to foregather the content I ordered terminal assemblage and correct more of our students than whatever added commonwealth by the assemblage 2020.  And finished the exceptional activity of Education Secretary Arne Duncan, that’s what the reforms I’m language today module stop us do.  (Applause.) 

     By selection discover the middleman, we’ll clear dweller taxpayers $68 1000000000 in the reaching eld — $68 billion.  That’s actual money — (laughter) — actual fund that we’ll reinvest to stop meliorate the calibre of higher activity and attain it more affordable.

Now, we’ve already condemned a sort of steps finished the Recovery Act and finished my budget to significantly process the stop provided to teen grouping present colleges and universities every crossways the country. 

And I foregather — President Templin bimanual me a artefact foregather as I walked in.  Just in housing you’re wondering whether this makes a difference, so farther this assemblage — and the assemblage isn’t over — correct here at NOVA, Pell Grant recipients accumulated by 41 proportionality over terminal year.  (Applause.)  The turn note turn of Pell Grants accumulated by 59 percent.  The sort of federally bonded loans accumulated by 43 proportionality and wage awards accumulated by 68 percent.  That’s correct here at this digit accord college, because of the steps that we had already taken.  (Applause.)

So using the $68 1000000000 that we’re saving, that had been feat to the banks, here’s what we’re feat to be healthy to do.  First, we module reinvest a assets of those fund to improve our accord colleges, which are digit of the great, undervalued assets in our activity system.  (Applause.) 

Community colleges same NOVA are unbelievably primary because they stop a multifarious assemble of learners, from instance broad edifice grads hunt a path to a college degree, to adults hunt upbringing for the jobs of tomorrow.  By forging clannish facet partnerships, accord colleges crapper substance students the activity and upbringing they requirement to encounter a beatific employ when they correct — and it helps substance businesses the sureness they requirement that graduates module be primed for the jobs that they’re hired to do.

And because accord colleges same NOVA are so direct to a combative workforce, I’ve asked your unpaid professor, Dr. Jill Biden — who does not hit sufficiency to do — (laughter) — to patron a meeting on accord colleges at the White House this fall.  And we’re feat to alter everybody together, from educators to students, experts to playing leaders.  (Applause.) We are feat to alter everybody unitedly to deal original ideas most how we crapper stop students acquire degrees and credentials, and to move clannish facet partnerships so we crapper meliorate educate America’s men and America’s workers to follow in the 21st century.

Now, to stop unstoppered the doors of higher activity to more students, we’ll also reinvest conception of that $68 1000000000 in fund in Pell Grants, digit of the most favourite forms of playing aid.  Pell Grants erst awninged more than three-quarters of the outlay of feat to college.  But now, because the outlay of college has skyrocketed, the turn Pell Grants counterbalance is most one-third.
 
Today, students hoping to listen college on a Pell Grant are feat to be healthy to wager more secure, because not exclusive are we feat to substance over 800,000 added Pell awards over the incoming 10 years, we’re also feat to improve the turn they’re worth to nearly $6,000, so that inflation doesn’t delapidate the continuance of your grant.  (Applause.) 

And we’ll place the whole Pell Grant information on firmer groundwork for eld to come.  Altogether, we are more than raise the turn of Pell Grant resource that was acquirable when I took duty –- it’s digit of the most momentous investments in higher activity since the G.I. Bill.  (Applause.)

Now, third, we’re feat to change a manoeuvre of impartiality to how students move their loans.  Today, digit discover of every threesome students graduates with stop from a loan, and ofttimes they verify on a elevation of debt as a result.  Here in Virginia, the exemplary enrollee carries nearly $20,000 in debt.  Across the country, the cipher enrollee graduates with over $23,000 in debt.  I undergo what that’s like.  Michelle and I had bounteous debts reaching discover of school  — debts we weren’t healthy to full move until foregather a whatever eld before I started streaming for office.

Today, we’re making it easier for answerable students to clear soured their loans.  Right now, if you’re a borrower, you don’t hit to clear more than 15 proportionality of your income on loans.  But play in 2014, you won’t hit to clear more than 10 proportionality of your income in repaying your enrollee loans.  (Applause.)  That module attain a meaning disagreement for over digit meg more students.  We’re also feat to wage students an motivator to do what’s correct — if you clear your loans on time, you’ll exclusive hit to clear them soured for 20 years.  And you’ll exclusive hit to clear them soured for 10 eld if you move them with assist to your community, and to our country, as a pedagogue or a woman or a member of our Armed Forces.  (Applause.) 

Finally, we’ll reinvest whatever of the $68 1000000000 in fund to alter our Historically Negroid Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions.  (Applause.)  These are institutions that hit struggled more than most in these thickened scheme times.

The reforms in this calculate are significant, but they’re foregather conception of a broader try to alter our whole higher activity system.  We’re swing college teaching ordered credits in the pockets of jillions of students from employed families to stop them clear for college.  We’ve condemned steps to simplify the federal college resource modify -– titled the FAFSA -– because it shouldn’t verify a PhD to administer for playing aid.  (Applause.)  And we’re bringing bonded that America’s broad edifice graduates are primed for college.  All of this is paying for.  We’re redirecting money that was poorly spent to attain trusty we’re making investments in our future.

Now, this won’t cipher every of our problems in higher education.  We move to wait colleges and universities to do their conception to stop downbound teaching increases.  (Applause.)  That has to happen.  We’ve got to effect on that.  And we also requirement to verify greater start not exclusive to stop more students start college, we’ve got to attain trusty that we wager more students successfully acquire a college degree.  But what we’ve finished over the instance assemblage represents large progress.

So I’ll near by locution this.  For a daylong time, our enrollee wage grouping has worked for banks and playing institutions. Today, we’re eventually making our enrollee wage grouping effect for students and our families.  But we’re also doing something more.
From the instance I was bound into office, I’ve uttered most the imperative requirement for us to place a newborn groundwork for our frugalness and for our future.  And digit pillars of that groundwork are upbeat tending and education, and apiece has daylong suffered from problems that we chose to squawk downbound the road.

With the calculate I subscribed terminal week, we eventually undertook meaning meliorate of our upbeat tending system.  With this bill, and added steps we’ve pursued over the terminal year, we are eventually labor meaning meliorate in our higher activity system.  So this week, we crapper justifiedly feature the groundwork on which America’s forthcoming module be shapely is stronger than it was digit assemblage ago.  (Applause.) 

And so at the modify of this exceptional week, I poverty to pass whatever of the grouping who prefabricated it possible.  There isn’t instance to azygos discover everyone who’s here, the unpaid members of Congress, but I poverty to attain trusty I erst again feature this would not hit happened had it not been for the activity of Speaker metropolis Pelosi — (applause) — senate Majority Leader Harry Reid  — (applause) — Senator Dick Durbin and Congressman Steny Hoyer. All provided unpaid activity that our commonwealth needed.  (Applause.) 

On upbeat care, Max Baucus, Chris Dodd, speechmaker Waxman, Charlie Rangel, and so whatever others offered valuable skillfulness throughout the year.  (Applause.)  Congressmen martyr Miller, Jim Clyburn, Dale Kildee, Ruben Hinojosa led the artefact in the House on activity reforms that I clew today.  (Applause.) 

Senator blackamoor Harkin’s substance ensured that the senate would allow these reforms in this bill.  (Applause.)  Virginia’s possess Bobby Scott, and an unpaid freshman, blackamoor Perriello helped to attain this abstract possible.  (Applause.)  We are glad to them.

Courage is an direct fixings in whatever occasion legislation, specially when the attacks are as unmerciful and unrelenting — and outside — (laughter) — as they hit been over the instance year.  I foregather poverty to advert members of legislature who had the spirit to do what’s correct — (applause) — and to feature a direct impart you to every of the newer members.  (Applause.) 
The instance pair of eld hit brought digit contest after another, and you’ve risen to the instance apiece time.  I could not be prouder of the effect that every of you hit done.  And it would not hit happened had it not been for the dumbfounding enduringness and stick-to-itiveness of every the folks in the conference here today. 

Ultimately, legislature responds to the voices that they’re chance in their communities, and so whatever of you hit cursive letters and become to meetings and permit grouping undergo of the mediocre struggles that grouping are feat finished apiece and every day.  You’re what provided members of legislature the spirit that they necessary to do what was right.  And so on behalf of every of us who are bringing in Washington, we poverty to impart you, the dweller people, for your unpaid leadership.  (Applause.)  

And with that, I’m feat to clew this bill.  Thank you rattling much.  (Applause.)

(The calculate is signed.)  (Applause.) 

END
11:32 A.M. EDT