As a citizen, I am very concerned that you and other Democrats are not going to stand up for the low-income people you represent in deliberations on the debt ceiling. Education programs that are important to me, like the Pell Grant and TRIO, are threatened by these negotiations. If we don’t educate our citizens, we will not be able to compete in the global economy.

I am very concerned that the interests of our most vulnerable citizens will be ignored in the debt ceiling debate. Don’t trade the futures of the lowincome students and families who rely on programs like TRIO and Pell in the name of fiscal responsibility. Cutting such programs would actually be fiscally irresponsible. Without an educated population, our economy will not survive. We, as citizens, are counting on you to protect our TRIO programs and the students and families served by them.