Young Americans
Young Americans have spoken out loudly and clearly about the need for a new direction in America. Whether you are headed to college, into the workforce, or becoming parents, young Americans are focused on the future.
Our new Democratic-led Congress is hard at work addressing issues that affect America’s students and young people: cutting college costs, making health care accessible and affordable, addressing global warming and energy independence, and bringing our troops home from Iraq. The sky's the limit to what we can accomplish together -- fighting for working families, for accountable government, and for a safer, environmentally sustainable world.
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LATEST NEWS:
A Progress Report for Young AmericansSeptember 3, 2008 - Young Americans have spoken out loudly and clearly about the need for a new direction in America. Whether you are headed to college, into the workforce, or becoming parents, young Americans are focused on the future.
Your voices are being heard.
After years of neglect and inaction, solutions are needed. This Congress, under Democratic leadership for the first time in a dozen years, is making progress.
Read the 110th Congress' latest Progress Report for Young Americans>>
On July 1, Interest Rates on Student Loans Dropped
July 1, 2008 - With today’s economy squeezing families and tuition prices continuing to soar, the high cost of college remains a top concern for Americans. However, there is some good news for college students and their families: New financial aid benefits enacted last year are beginning to kick in for this fall.
Thanks to the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, which provides more than $20 billion in federal student aid over the next five years, interest rates on need-based (subsidized) federal student loans dropped from 6.8 percent to 6.0 percent on July 1st – making these loans more affordable for millions of low- and middle-income students. This is the first of step towards halving these interest rates – over the next few years these rates will continue to decrease until they reach 3.4 percent.
Learn more about who benefits from the bill and how>>
Speaker Pelosi to New Graduates of Miami Dade College’s North Campus: Follow Your Passion
![At Miami Dade College's North Campus Commencement](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20081004171800im_/http://www.speaker.gov/img/Miami3.jpg)
May 6, 2008 - Speaker Pelosi delivered the commencement speech at Miami Dade College’s North Campus:
“Central to a better future is education.
“Higher education is the best investment parents can make in their children, individuals can make in themselves, and a nation can make in its future.
“I know that many of you have earned this degree while balancing work and raising your families – to make the future better for your children.
“I come before you today as Speaker, but the role I am most proud of is mother to my five children, and grandmother to my seven grandchildren.
“When I was changing diapers, packing lunches, and checking homework, I never imagined I would run for Congress, or become the first woman Speaker of the House.
“But when those opportunities presented themselves, I was ready for them.
“Always be open to and ready for new opportunities that present themselves to you. Prepare for the possibilities the future holds for you.
“Follow your passion.
Continue reading>>
Green Jobs and Green Schools for the Next Generation
April 11, 2008 - For a brighter and more prosperous future, we must invest in a green infrastructure, a green economy, and green schools to create a workforce of good-paying green collar American jobs.
From coast to coast, cities and towns across the nation are at the forefront of greening our nation, and Congress is investing in their leadership. Speaker Pelosi has been speaking at events around the country to bring attention to local efforts and innovation. In March, she spoke at the William F. Stanley Elementary School in Waltham, Massachusetts, where students, teachers, and administrators have made their building more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.
The Stanley School generates electricity from solar panels installed on the roof and walls of the building, high-efficiency windows, improved lighting systems and an increased use of natural light. It saves nearly 200,000 kilowatt hours per year in energy savings, leading to $30,000 a year in projected energy savings. The school is finalizing a station where the students and teachers observe the performance of the green building system, allowing them to monitor the school's energy usage over time.
Schools play a crucial role in providing healthy, safe environments for young people to learn, and they are key to preparing students for careers in our increasingly green economy and green future.
Watch Speaker Pelosi and Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming Chairman Ed Markey Speak at the Stanley School in Waltham, Massachusetts>>
The Best Way To Predict The Future Is To Invent It
Putting a stop to global warming is among Speaker Pelosi's top priorities, but it is truly our nation’s young people who are leading this movement. With their hard work and dedication, this year Congress has enacted historic energy independence legislation, focused on global warming with the new Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, and committed to becoming the world’s only ‘carbon neutral’ legislative body with our ‘Green the Capitol’ initiative.
Entrepreneur Vinod Khosla has said, ‘the best way to predict the future is to invent it.’ That is what young people across the country did with Focus the Nation. In the face of global warming - an enormous and pressing issue that threatens our planet - young people are stepping up and taking action with unprecedented energy.
30 Something Democrats: Vlogging the Union
January 28, 2008 - Reps. Kendrick Meek (FL-17) and Tim Ryan (OH-17) of the Democrats' "30 Something" working group discuss the State of the Union in advance of President Bush's speech.
Reps. Meek and Ryan: President Bush's Final State of the Union
January 22, 2008 - 30 Something Reps. Kendrick Meek and Tim Ryan chat about the coming State of the Union Address and their own preview they'll give next week.
House Passes Historic Energy Bill
December 6, 2007 - "We hold our children’s future in our hands – not our grandchildren, or great-grandchildren, but our own children. For twelve years, the leadership in the House of Representatives stifled all discussion and debate of global warming. That long rejection of reality is over."
-Speaker Nancy Pelosi
The House passed historic energy legislation that will put us on the path to energy independence, create American jobs by investing in American innovation and technology, and improve energy efficiency for American vehicles and products. Promoting energy independence and combating climate change are flagship issues for the 110th Congress and for Speaker Pelosi, who sponsored this legislation and established the new Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming upon being sworn in as Speaker in January.
With this energy legislation, for the first time in 32 years Congress is updating our nation’s vehicle efficiency standard: requiring new vehicles to meet a 35 miles per gallon standard by the year 2020. This will reduce oil consumption by 1.1 million gallons per day in 2020 (one-half of what we currently import from the Persian Gulf), and reduce greenhouse gases equal to taking 28 million of today's average cars and trucks off the road.
Click on the chart below from the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming to learn more about the energy bill:
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20081004171800im_/http://www.speaker.gov/img/energybill2.jpg)
The bill:
- Invests in biofuels for vehicles, and establishes a hybrid vehicle tax credit while encouraging domestic development of advanced technology vehicles
- Repeals giveaways for Big Oil and Gas, and requires companies to generate 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources -- such as wind power, biomass, wave, tidal, geothermal and solar -- by 2020
- Establishes a program to train a new workforce for “green” collar jobs -- such as solar panel manufacturer and green building construction worker
- Strengthens and extends existing renewable energy tax credits, and bolsters research on renewable energy
- Includes landmark energy efficiency provisions to save consumers and businesses hundreds of billions of dollars
Learn more from Speaker Pelosi's Energy Independence page>>
Speaker Pelosi and Young Leaders on Global Warming - 11/3/2007
November 3, 2007 - Speaker Pelosi spoke at Power Shift 2007, the first national summit of youth working to combat global warming. On November 5th, the Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming held a hearing with testimony by young environmental leaders.
Watch:
The College Cost Reduction and Access Act is Now Looking for Somebody to Love
September 27, 2007 - Last week, Speaker Pelosi sent the College Cost Reduction and Access Act to the President for his signature. The legislation will help millions of students and families pay for college at no new cost to taxpayers, boosting college aid by roughly $20 billion over the next five years. This morning, the President signed the landmark college student financial aid bill into law and now the College Cost Reduction and Access Act is looking for somebody to love:
Find out if you’re compatible at www.edworkforce.house.gov/college.
Speaker Pelosi spoke about the importance of young leaders at the People for the American Way's Spirit of Liberty Awards
September 25, 2007 - “In my recent travels as Speaker, I have met with presidents, prime ministers, and kings. But I have been most impressed and inspired by my encounters with young people like you.
“Young people around the world are hungry for progress. They want to know if their leaders have the courage to stop war. They want equality, democracy, and freedom.
“Young people at home want us to stand up for the American way.
Speaker Pelosi unveils A New Direction for Young Americans: A Progress Report on the 110th Congress
Speaker Pelosi, with Chairman George Miller, Rep. Kendrick Meek, and House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn, talk with Howard University students about the Progress Report for Young Americans on the 110th Congress.
September 18, 2007 - Congressional leaders send historic College Cost Reduction and Access Act to the President for his signature. This bill provides the largest increase in college aid since the GI Bill in 1944. Watch: