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Floor Speech
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Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I rise today to highlight a true example of what we at home call the Oregon Way. At a recent open-to-all townhall meeting--I have held more than 1,100 of them--and this one was in Union County, and I was pleased to run into my friend Tim Cook. He is the president of Clackamas Community College, over 250 miles away on the other side of our State from my hometown in Portland.
I was glad to see him, and still my curiosity got the better of me. I had to ask why he was so far from home. Here is Tim's story.
He has been in the process of running to every one of Oregon's 17 community colleges to raise awareness for community college students about how challenging it is for them to meet the basic needs that they have to address as students.
Tim kicked off his ``Running for Oregon Community College Students'' campaign at Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario on the Idaho border. He plans to run 32 miles each day to reach each community college in our State.
He is on track to complete this 1,500 mile--let me repeat that--1,500 mile journey by August 11.
Tim told me he was inspired by so many students that have shared their stories with him about the hardships--particularly the financial hardships--they have endured while attending school.
That includes William Morehead, a Portland Community College student who said he has had virtually no family support, and he had no help as a young adult yearning for an education.
So there he was with zero support, and William decided he could make a better life for himself through training and education. He signed up for welding classes and attended regularly. He did that while living in his car.
Despite these roadblocks, he persevered and graduated with an associate's degree in welding and had a 3.9 GPA. He was nominated to serve as the student commencement speaker at graduation.
Now William is learning AI ethics, and he said recently:
In welding you use metal and fire, and in computing you do the same thing but in a digital realm. I want to apply this degree to evaluating Artificial Intelligence systems that interface with the public and make sure it does it in a way that's beneficial and not harmful.
The story I tell about William isn't unique. Many young, promising Americans are not living up to their best potential and not for a lack of trying, but there has really been a lack of support.
When adults lecture young people to ``pull yourself up by your bootstraps,'' they often miss the point that some students were never even provided with the boots. They didn't have the boots to yank themselves up.
Getting any degree is expensive enough, but it is even further out of reach for so many young people when you factor in everything a student needs to succeed beyond tuition--things like transportation, housing, food, books, access to technology, and an array of other necessities.
Many talented and promising students can't fulfill their potential and suffer in a system that lacks the potential to see that and see it and get them the opportunity for them to get ahead.
And now, with deep cuts to programs like SNAP and Medicaid under the Republicans' disastrous recent budget bill, coupled with high housing costs and rising prices from the Trump tariffs, the safety nets for students who fly solo are being slashed.
Donald Trump and DOGE are even trying to take a sledgehammer to funding for key programs like JobCorps, which help young people get the resources they need to secure a degree and a good-paying job.
So President Tim Cook is running not for office, but he is running for his students. He is pounding the pavement in the summer heat to highlight that when students' basic needs are met, they can focus on their education and create a brighter future for themselves, their families, and their communities.
That is why I am here on the floor today. I want to be part of sending Tim a powerful message that Congress agrees with him and must not leave students behind. The world's next Einstein--and I say this to all my colleagues--may be in your town, scraping together a way to earn an education and make a positive impact on the community and the world.
Let's help light the beacon of opportunity for those students. For America to be great, we have got to make sure that everybody in our country gets a fair shot. So I will close by saying I am gratified by the passion and insight that Tim Cook and other Oregonians are bringing to this cause.
They understand the importance of investing in our kids because that draws a map to a brighter future for all of us. It may not be possible for everybody to run 32 miles a day for nearly 2 months, but as Senators, we can certainly make a difference.
This country needs more commonsense policies that put students first and prepare us all for a brighter tomorrow. That is what Tim Cook is bringing us.
Mr. President, I urge all of my colleagues to support these educators and others for helping students.
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