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U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA) pushed students to become examples in their communities by taking advantage of resources at their disposal, namely the California community college system and programs such as Cal grants that help make education affordable for working class students.”In Pasadena, in Altadena, in the San Gabriel Valley we have a lot of young people who don’t realize that they could be here sitting with you,” said Solis who represents California’s 32nd district.

“A lot of people don’t take advantage of these public institutions. [PCC] is not my property, it is not the professors’ property, it’s yours, and the taxpayers provide for it. It’s a little revolutionary,” she said.

Students in professor David Uranga’s political science class welcomed congresswoman Solis on Wednesday to the campus with applause and listened to her speak on an array of issues including the treatment of returning veterans from Iraq, the role of immigration, and the importance of taking advantage of public establishments.

The congresswoman was critical of the discrepancy in pay between military contractors and U.S. soldiers who essentially do the same job.

“[The contractors] are being paid outrageous salaries, sometimes over $100,000. They risk their lives, no doubt,” she said.

At the same time there are some young men and women who have been recruited in her district of different nationalities who are going to make less than $20,000 a year, according to Solis.

New enlistees are offered signing bonuses ranging between $20,000 to $40,000, but Solis believes the promise of quick cash is misleading. “If you get injured, you get mutilated, you can’t serve your country,” she said to the students gathered in the auditorium.

“What tends to happen is you don’t get your bonus because you didn’t complete your three years. You gave your limb, maybe you gave your life, and your family that remains don’t get the benefits of what happened to that individual,” said Solis.

She credited immigration as one of the strengths of the United States.

“We are a strong, powerful country because we don’t draw from one group,” said Solis, whose father was born in Mexico and mother in Nicaragua.

“I see people coming here from all over the world. [Immigrants] have been doing it for 200 years, not to expect a handout but to contribute. After Katrina, guess who went to Louisiana to help rebuild? That’s right, immigrants.”

Solis also related the disproportionate amount of minority casualties to the Vietnam War and the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Some of you who are reading your history know the high propensity of minorities’ casualties,” she said. “Poor people, poor white people. When [the United States] came back, we lost over 50,000.”

Today, Solis sees commonalities between veterans returning to her district who have difficulties finding transportation to and from Veterans Affairs, the suicides of returning soldiers, and the affects of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Solis also revealed to the crowd that she has endorsed Hilary Clinton for president, whom she has worked on bills with, trying to create jobs in what she calls a “green-collar industry.

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