Action Alert--Cut in Student Loan Funding

I recieved this in my school email inbox:

The U. S. House of Representatives is on the verge of approving what would
be the largest cut in the history of student loan funding. Sometime
later this week (possibly as late as Saturday, November 19), the House will vote
on the FY 2006 budget reconciliation bill that includes $15 billion in cuts to
the student loan programs.

To help fight these cuts, I ask you to do two
things: Call your congressman/woman and tell him/her to oppose the
budget reconciliation bill. Please place calls by Thursday, November 17.
Please forward the "Stop the Raid on Student Aid" flyer, or the link to
it, to your students. (The flyer is posted at http://www.studentaidalliance.org/toolbox/StoptheRaidFlyer.doc.) Ask
them to call or e-mail Congress in opposition to the House budget reconciliation
bill.

To call Congress, use either the Capitol Switchboard
(202-225-3121) or the Student Aid Alliance hotline (1--800-574-4AID), and ask
for your representative's office.

Talking Points

--I call to ask you to oppose the budget reconciliation bill, because it will make the biggest cuts to student loans in the program's history.
--Instead of having student loans make the biggest contribution to deficit reduction of any area of government, Congress needs to increase its investment in student aid so that we can provide the ladder of opportunity and access, prepare the nation's workforce, educate individuals to lead a complex civil society, and sustain our competitiveness in the global economy.
--This is not the way to make higher education affordable for America 's working families. Congress must keep up its commitment to needy students. Their future and the future of the national interest depend on it.
--Balancing the budget on the backs of students puts an inordinate burden on them, and on our nation's future.