A U.S. Senate candidate announced his stance Wednesday on the issues of higher education availability and congressional pay raises.

Candidate Johnathan Reich (D-DeKalb), an NIU graduate student, held a press conference to discuss these concerns.

“Higher education should be available to every student that wants to go, regardless of their ability to pay,” Reich said.

Reich said he supports Presidential Candidate Bill Clinton’s proposal that higher education costs be reimbursed through community service by students who otherwise would not be able to pay.

However, he said another program would have to be implemented until Clinton’s plan takes effect. The plan would “guarantee college and living expenses to anyone who wants to go to college,” he said.

This coverage would apply only to students interested in attending public universities, Riech said.

“I have no specific figures as of yet, but the plan is simply to write into the law that students can apply for and receive financial aid from the federal government,” he said. “My opponent (Dennis Hastert, R-Yorkville) has no such plan.”

Reich also announced that he is launching a petition protesting a “midnight pay raise” approved by Congress, which raises the salary of each member of Congress by $35,000. This amounts to a total of about $17 million per year, Reich said.

The petition also calls for an immediate roll back in salaries for Congress, he said.