75th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2009 Regular Session
 
NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
 { +  braces and plus signs + } .
 
 LC 2779
 
                           A-Engrossed
 
                     House Joint Memorial 15
                  Ordered by the House April 29
            Including House Amendments dated April 29
 
Sponsored by Representative BUCKLEY; Representatives BARKER,
  BEYER, BOONE, DEMBROW, ESQUIVEL, GELSER, GILMAN, GREENLICK,
  HOLVEY, HUFFMAN, JENSON, KOMP, MATTHEWS, OLSON, READ, RILEY,
  ROBLAN, SCHAUFLER, J SMITH, SPRENGER, STIEGLER, WITT, Senator
  BATES
 
 
                             SUMMARY
 
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure.
 
  Urges Congress to pass legislation and appropriate funds for
free   { - college - }   { + post-secondary + } education.
 
                         JOINT MEMORIAL
To the President of the United States and the Senate and the
  House of Representatives of the United States of America, in
  Congress assembled:
  We, your memorialists, the Seventy-fifth Legislative Assembly
of the State of Oregon, in legislative session assembled,
respectfully represent as follows:
  Whereas in the 1950s and 1960s the civil rights movement
established the right of all Americans to equal access to public
education; and
  Whereas in the 21st century a post-secondary education is a
prerequisite for effective labor force participation and economic
security for workers and their families; and
  Whereas the lack of access by growing numbers of Americans to
post-secondary education severely limits democratic participation
in the economic and political processes of the United States and
results in a tragic loss of diverse human potential; and
  Whereas the United States now ranks tenth among industrialized
nations in the percentage of persons between 25 and 34 years of
age with an associate degree or higher, according to the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; and
  Whereas a recent study has found that low-income and
middle-income students are unable to afford the full cost of
public college in nearly every state in the Union; and
  Whereas the average American student graduates with a debt load
of $17,000 from student loans and 39 percent graduate with debt
loads that require more than 8 percent of their monthly income in
repayments; and
  Whereas the Oregon Student Assistance Commission ran out of
money for college grants halfway through the 2008-2009 school
year; and
  Whereas studies have shown that the GI Bill was one of the most
successful programs in our nation's history and that every $1
invested in this program on those who would not have otherwise
attended college produced a $6.90 return in increased national
output and tax revenues; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of the State of
  Oregon:
  That we, the members of the Seventy-fifth Legislative Assembly,
respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to pass
legislation and appropriate funds to provide a free
post-secondary education for every academically qualified United
States citizen; and be it further
  Resolved, That a copy of this memorial shall be sent to the
President of the United States, to the Senate Majority Leader, to
the Speaker of the House of Representatives and to each member of
the Oregon Congressional Delegation.
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