mr. chairman , i move to strike the last word .  mr. chairman , i thank the gentleman from ohio ( mr. boehner )  and the gentleman from florida ( mr. keller )  , both of the education and the workforce committee .  i , too , agree that pell grants are a fundamental part of our efforts to ensure low- and middle-income students have the opportunity to pursue postsecondary education .  as the gentlemen have pointed out , republicans have a proud history of providing funding for the pell grant program .  i am particularly pleased that in this bill , we will erase the $ 4.3 billion shortfall that had existed within the program , and put the program on a solid financial footing .  we are also increasing the pell grant maximum award to $ 4 , 100 , the highest level in the history of the program , and it is very evident from the chart there .  and i would point out that if you take a look at that chart , where we became the majority party in 1994 , and you can see the rapid ascendency of the pell grant program .  as the gentleman from florida ( mr. keller )  is aware , increasing the pell grant maximum award , even incrementally , is costly .  each $ 100 we add is estimated to cost $ 420 million .  as the number of low-income students pursuing college continues to increase , the demand for pell grants will grow as well .  mr. chairman , i am pleased to have worked closely with the gentleman from ohio ( mr. boehner )  and the gentleman from florida ( mr. keller )  to provide the resources necessary to help low- and middle-income students gain access to college through pell grants .  as for the conference negotiations , obviously i can not guarantee any particular outcome .  however , i will make a good-faith effort to increase the maximum pell grant award , provided resources are available to do so .  i thank the gentleman for engaging in this colloquy , and i look forward to working with him in the future to continue to support this important program .  