Less than two weeks have passed since a guest column written by UT's "representative" in the U.S. House of Representatives, Lamar Smith, ran in the The Daily Texan. In the Aug. 29 column Smith praised his "yay" vote for the "College Student Relief Act of 2007" and pledged his commitment to increasing access to college by supporting financial aid programs.
"A generous financial aid system is essential to providing access to higher education for many students," he wrote. This change of heart came nearly two years after Smith led the way in slashing $12 billion in student aid - one of the largest cuts in history.
This past weekend, Congress decided to reverse the 2005 Republican Raid On Student Aid by passing the College Cost Reduction Act of 2007. This legislation, the largest college aid package since the 1944 GI Bill, increases the maximum Pell Grant from $4,300 to $5,400, slashes Federal Stafford Loan interest rates from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent and cuts subsidies to the student lender industry by $21 billion - the same industry that has been working with financial aid offices in robbing students for decades. This legislation, successfully advocated for by Big XII Student Government leaders at a March conference in Washington, is expected to be signed into law by President Bush.
We should all be thankful that our congressman, Lamar Smith, after years of ignoring his middle-and lower-income UT constituents, has finally represented us in Washington, right?
Wrong.
Mr. Smith didn't oppose the student aid bill, as you are probably thinking. Instead, our congressman didn't even bother to show up for the vote. Furthermore, his absence from last Friday's vote for the College Cost Reduction Act of 2007 is one of 20 skipped by Smith during his current term in Congress. The Washington Post keeps track of how many votes members of Congress miss, and Smith has a stellar record: He missed only 2.3 percent of votes this year (a 97.7-percent attendance record).
Isn't it fascinating that the UT community was unrepresented by Smith in this particular vote?
Fortunately, the Washington Post also keeps track of the time of each vote, enabling us to keep Lamar Smith honest.
Last Friday, at 3:30 p.m., Mr. Smith cast a vote in the U.S. House for the Patent Reform Act of 2007. Only eight minutes later, he skipped the vote for the College Student Relief Act of 2007. Evidently, patents are more important to Smith than his 49,000 Longhorn student constituents - he couldn't wait 8 minutes to vote for our bill. Even more interesting, earlier in the day at 11:20 a.m., Smith voted "nay" on a procedural motion to simply consider the College Student Relief Act. In effect, this was his attempt to block the financial aid legislation that is so critical to UT students. So much for being "our" representative.
Smith's attempt to hide his opposition to this critical student aid legislation is pitiful. Year after year, Congress after Congress, he meets with UT student leaders and writes to our school paper telling us he's a champion of higher education and Texas students. But instead, he is a champion of partisan, polarizing politics, and it's time for him to go.
I don't know about y'all, but I've had enough of Congressman Lamar Smith. If you're reading this and, like me, are a UT student who depends on financial aid, go to the West Mall and register to vote. We must work to ensure that in November 2008, Mr. Smith doesn't go to Washington, but is instead thrown out of Washington.
Hall is a government and history junior and a member of Student Government and the University Democrats.
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