Updated: Oct. 20, 2014 7:46 p.m.

Vice President Joe Biden said he’ll always remember being a senior in high school watching his father pace back and forth in the parking lot.

“I’ll never forget. He looked up at me and said, ‘Joey, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m so ashamed.’”

Biden’s father had come back from the bank and couldn’t get the money to personally send his son to college.

The vice president spoke to a crowd of hundreds of people at a hangar near Syracuse Hancock International Airport to rally support for U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei (D-Syracuse). Maffei is locked in a tight race with Republican challenger John Katko for the upcoming election on Nov. 4.

With the rally’s theme of strengthening the middle class, Biden said it’s essential that middle class Americans can afford to send this generation of students to college.

He opened his speech by reminiscing about his “almost home” of Syracuse. Biden graduated from the College of Law in 1968 and met his first wife at SU. The vice president added that he has some fond memories at Hancock Airport.

His speech also touched upon the importance of building up the middle class and making sure all Americans have access to good jobs, have Medicaid and have a high minimum wage.

“The middle class has been the social fabric that’s held this country together,” Biden said.

Sending a child to college isn’t just about the student, Biden said, but it’s also about the parent.

“How many people in this room are parents,” Biden asked the crowd and a vast majority of the hands shot up. “The hardest thing as a parent, that students will learn, is looking them in the eyes and telling your son or daughter that they have an opportunity and there’s nothing you can do to help them. It’s the most helpless feeling for a mom or dad.”

And as of now, millions of mothers and fathers who have “dignity and pride” aren’t able to send their children to college, because they simply can’t afford it, Biden said.

Four million more kids are in college today because of Pell Grants, Biden said. And it’s now more important than ever to invest in early childhood education, as studies show that early education will enable students to become more successful in life.

Biden criticized the Republican Party for claiming the country can’t afford it. But yet Republicans continue to make sure $1.7 trillion goes to taxpayers who are already making millions of dollars.

“They can’t figure out how to get their child to school,” Biden said. “These guys (Republicans) don’t get it. They propose to cut what Dan and I fought for.”

But before Biden ended his 30-minute speech, and took selfies with supporters as Bruce Springsteen’s “We Take Care of Our Own” played in the background, he asked the crowd to have one goal come Election Day.

“Don’t just vote and make sure (Maffei) wins,” Biden said. “Make sure this man wins with a significant margin.”

Published on October 20, 2014 at 3:49 pm

Contact Meredith: mhnewman@syr.edu | @MerNewman93