This week marked the penultimate one in Congress before nearly a month off from session to focus on campaigns.
Sens. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., and Richard Burr, R-N.C., were busy on a variety of issues including funding the government, higher education and dealing with ISIS militants in Syria.
Hagan, in partnership with Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., sponsored a bill this past week which would support state and local efforts across the nation aimed at increasing early college programs.
“As the cost of college continues to rise, we need creative, common-sense solutions to ensure that college stays within reach for every student who wants to pursue it," Hagan said in a statement.
"The bill Senator Coons and I introduced today will help students get a jumpstart on a college degree, saving them time and money once they walk onto campus and better preparing them to succeed in college coursework.
Burr and Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, are co-sponsoring legislation to reform student loan practices.
“North Carolinians are tired of seeing their hard-earned tax dollars go to waste in a student loan program that serves neither their interests nor those of the college students it is intended to help,” Burr said in a statement.
“The Repay Act has two very simple goals: First, students should be presented with clear options on how to repay their student loan debts affordably and in a straightforward manner. Second, taxpayers should no longer subsidize the excessive borrowing and loan forgiveness that Washington has allowed to take place over the past few years."
Burr and Hagan both voted in favor of President Obama’s plan to take on Islamic militants in Syria.
"It is critical that the people of Syria have an alternative other than ISIS, or other radical terrorist groups like it, or the Assad regime. While a strong moderate military force is essential, success on the battlefield can only set the conditions for a political solution in Syria," Hagan said.
The efforts to combat ISIS in Syria were attached to Congress' continuing resolution, the bill that will keep the federal government running until mid-December, after which point lawmakers will have to compromise on a fiscal year 2015 spending plan.
“For the better part of a year," Burr said, "I’ve called for action to curb ISIL’s inhumane and brutal terror campaign. It is in our national interests to destroy ISIL and we should use all appropriate tools to do so.”
Reps. David Price, D-N.C., and Renee Ellmers, R-N.C., voted for the continuing resolution in the House, a reversal of Ellmers' position in 2013 when she voted to shut down the government. Ellmers was one of many Republicans who voted against funding measures that included money for the Affordable Care Act.
Upon passage of the continuing resolution, Price released a statement attacking Republican leadership for failing to present a budget and just opting for a continuing resolution.
Price lambasted the House's Republican majority for being unable to put together a comprehensive bill and called for an omnibus spending bill to appear in the chamber before the resolution expires.
Ellmers did not release a statement on the passage of the continuing resolution. Ellmers did take to Twitter this week to encourage Congress and Obama to move forward with the Keystone XL Pipeline, an oil pipeline project slated to stretch from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf Coast in southern Texas.
state@dailytarheel.com
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