Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), a senior member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and Chairman of its Subcommittee on Children and Families, today issued the following statement on President-Elect Obama’s selection of Arne Duncan to be Secretary of Education.

“With the nomination of Arne Duncan to be Secretary of Education, President-Elect Obama has reaffirmed his commitment to strengthening America’s education system.  Reforming the inflexible No Child Left Behind Act will be one of our most urgent priorities in the coming months.  Arne Duncan understands the scope of the challenges we are facing, and I am confident that he will be an outstanding advocate for the education and enrichment of our nation’s children.”

The heightened scramble to procure and pay off student loans at Southern Connecticut State University has barely fazed nearby Yale, Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut said Tuesday.

Students at SCSU, like millions across the country, are concerned about the availability of student loans as the nation’s credit market tightens, Dodd said in a presentation at the university’s campus near West Rock. While Dodd tried to allay the worries of SCSU students, he said no immediate fix for the national loan situation is in sight. Yale, on the other hand, is fortunate in being largely unaffected, he said.

Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) today applauded Senate passage of legislation that would reauthorize and increase funding for the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA). The measure, authored by Dodd and Collins and cosponsored by Lieberman, would also expand the range of training programs offered at the National Fire Academy to ensure that America’s fire fighters are prepared to meet the growing demands on the fire service in the new century.

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), a senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and the Chairman of its Subcommittee on Children and Families, today hailed final Congressional approval of the Higher Education Opportunity Act.  The bill, which was passed by the House and Senate today, contains several initiatives championed by Dodd. 

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), senior member of Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee released the following statement on tonight’s House-Senate conference approval of the Higher Education Act.  This legislation includes several priorities that Senator Dodd has been advocating, including:

• Significant increases in Pell grants from $4,310 to $6,000 in 2009 and up to $8,000 by 2014;

• Provisions of Senators Dodd’s and Shelby’s “Private Student Loan Transparency and Improvement Act,” which provides new protections for borrowers of private student loans;

• Provisions to control costs, and make it easier for students to pay their tuition.

Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) today praised Senate Appropriations Committee approval of $241.1 million in federal funding for a variety of Connecticut initiatives.  This funding will be used for, among other services, economic development initiatives, education, health care, and family and community support programs – efforts essential to the wellbeing and continued success of Connecticut.

Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) announced today that they were able to secure more than $3.4 million for Connecticut initiatives in the Senate’s fiscal year 2009 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Bill.  Among other projects funded by Senate appropriators, the bill includes over $1 million for the construction of a new public safety complex in Hartford.      

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), a former Peace Corps volunteer and an outspoken advocate for national service programs, today announced he will introduce the AmeriCorps: Together Improving Our Nation (ACTION) Act of 2008. Dodd’s bill would raise AmeriCorps’ Segal Education Award to reflect the rising cost of college, make the award tax-exempt so AmeriCorps Members can apply the full amount of the award to their tuition, and elevate the Corporation for National and Community Service to Cabinet-level status, while empowering the Corporation to partner with other federal agencies.  

“The Administration’s letter is disappointing.  While it rightly supports proposals by my colleagues to authorize the Department of Education to take steps to prevent a significant disruption from occurring in the student loan market, the letter fails to respond to questions posed by members of the Senate Banking Committee as to what actions the Treasury Department is willing to take to prevent that crisis from occurring.  Perhaps most troubling, the letter offers a one-sentence rejection of the notion that the Treasury Department has the authority to utilize the Federal Financing Bank to provide liquidity directly to the loan market.  This response is inconsistent with the views of industry experts who recently testified before the Committee and the legal opinion of others who have studied this matter.  Instead of taking bold, decisive action to prevent today’s concern from turning into tomorrow’s crisis, the Administration instead has done less than it could, and should, do to ensure that every student has options to finance a higher education.”

Introduces Bill to Ensure Access to “PLUS Loans”

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and Chairman of its Subcommittee on Children and Families, was joined by Senators Kennedy (D-MA), Brown (D-OH), Murray (D-WA), Sanders (I-VT), and Clinton (D-NY) in introducing the PLUS Loan Borrower Protection Act today.  The bill is designed to ensure that students and parents can qualify for PLUS loans even if they have had trouble making their mortgage payments in light of the recent mortgage market meltdown.