WASHINGTON, DC — Senator Jeff Merkely held a hearing in Washington DC Wednesday, discussing the current economic conditions facing young Americans, specifically unmployment, underemployment and student debt. Emma Kallaway, of the Oregon Student Association, told Merkley of the struggles recent graduates in Oregon face, in the school and in the job market. Merkley said during Wednesday's hearing that something must be done to help Oregonians interested in a higher education. He said constituents have told him they are discouraging kids from going to college because of the cost and the difficulty of finding funding.
"That sentiment crushes aspirations, because students he absorb that message, it's the opposite of what I heard from my working class father which was 'go through those school doors, work hard, there is an opportunity to pursue, basically, anything in America'. That's the vision our young folks should have and what we're sorely missing."
Merkley chairs the Economic Policy Subcommittee on the Senate Banking Committee.
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