— Iraq and Afghanistan — in recent years". He also said that it is not a stimulus bill, but a "nation-building bill". Education Higgins is a supporter of education, including early education through higher education. He has said, "Every child has a right to a quality education." Ensuring that young people have a quality early education, and that legislators are supportive of education for individuals in primary, elementary, secondary, and higher educational institutions, are among Higgins's aims. He is a proponent of congressional support for measures that increase student achievement, but that also reward success, rather than punish failure, as the No Child Left Behind Act has done. Higgins further believes that financial barriers to education should not hinder anyone from pursuing higher education. Student loan interest rates Higgins supports maintaining lower interest rates on loans incurred by college and university students. He co-sponsored two bills — H.R. 3826, and H.R. 4816 — in efforts to extend the period of time in maintaining the reduced 3.4% interest rate on student loans. In 2007, Higgins supported The College Cost Reduction and Access Act, a bill passed into law that included the reduced 3.4% interest rate on subsidized Stafford student loans through the end of the 2012 academic year. Personal life Higgins resides in South Buffalo. He has two adult children, Maeve and John. References External links Congressman Brian Higgins official U.S. House website Brian Higgins for Congress |- |- |- 1959 births 21st-century American politicians American people of Irish descent Buffalo Common Council members Buffalo State College alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) Harvard Kennedy School alumni Living people Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly