Katrina Swett, a Democratic candidate for Congress, came to talk to the students at Franklin Pierce University on April 15 as a part of her preperation for the New Hampshire Primary on November 18.
About ten people came to the event put on by the College Democrats. Swett’s main goals are to “put the middle class first,” enact meaningful healthcare reform, make higher education more affordable, protect a woman’s right to choose, and help Americans run on our own clean energy.
According to Swett, she wants to make higher education more affordable for everyone. When she went to college it was $4,000 a year. That was about ten percent of the middle class income back in 1974. Now college costs about $40,000 a year, which is not ten percent of the middle class income. “Education will pay off, but should not cost as much and be as painful to get a degree,” said Swett.
Students in attendence spoke of their concerns to pay off college debt after graduation, particullarly in the difficult economy. To solve this problem Swett said she would like to “increase the number of pell grants” given out to students. Another solution would be to “expand federal study.” This would be a debt forgiveness program through one or two years of service meeting the needs of the underprivileged. Swett said that she wants to “keep the doors of opportunity open to everyone.”
Swett addressed the issue of “going green.” According to Swett, we get fossil fuels from countries that do not necessarily like us and that do not share our values. “We need to find those sectors where America is the world leader,” she said. “There can be many high paid, high skilled jobs with green energy technology."
“As we look at our future, nuclear will be part of it. Europe depends on nuclear energy. It is unrealistic to take it off the map. The need for energy never stops. Fossil fuels are unrealistic and cheap,” said Swett.
The president of College Democrats, Aaron West said, “I thought the event went very well. She was extremely gracious and showed a great deal of respect for the opinions of Franklin Pierce students when it came to the issues. She never hesitated to tell us her views on the issues that were important to us, and had a great deal of knowledge on everything we asked her about."
West said that he has been hesitant about who to support in the primary, but was very impressed by Swett's presentation. "I was very happy that she was so interested in coming to Franklin Pierce even though it was going to only be a meeting of 10-15. I think that shows how much she cares about students’ opinions and issues in her campaign.”
John Gordon, a Republican who attended, said, “I liked how she presented herself and how she was able to stand by her ideas and communicate how she could implement them. She's talked about a lot of new ways government can do things which I’m always in favor of."
Swett shared her memories of visiting Franklin Pierce before, and how beautiful it is compared to many of the other campuses she has visited. She ended by saying how much she enjoyed talking to the students.
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