For many of today’s best and brightest, to hear politicians say that “young people are our future” may seem like little more than a time-worn clich‚.

But while the sentiment may not be new it is becoming increasingly true, and increasingly important— for reasons that are much more than altruistic. In a global economy, America depends more and more on highly skilled, highly trained managers and workers.

To remain competitive, the workforce of the 21st century must be more productive, more innovative, and more creative than at any time in our history. Without high-quality education, and wide access to it, America simply cannot reach its full potential.

That is why this fall’s Congressional budget battle — the first since the Republicans took control of both Houses of Congress — is of profound importance to every student in America, and to the future of America itself.

To put it simply, the Republicans have proposed deep cuts in education — especially student loan programs — that would roll back decades of widening educational access and opportunity. These cuts would make education more expensive, more difficult to obtain, and for the millions of young people from middle- and lower-income families, an unaffordable luxury when it should be a simple necessity.

In my view, these cuts a are not simply wrong — they’re outrageous.

Of course, the Republican drive toward a balanced federal budget will require deep cuts across the board — and there are precious few Americans who do not want to see a smaller, leaner, more efficient federal government. But what few people realize is that the Republican cuts in education, student loans and training are about three times as great as their proposed cuts in any other part of American discretionary budget.

Totaling $36 billion, these cuts include the outright elimination of the federal Department of Education. And that’s only the beginning.

In making cuts totaling $10.1 billion in the student loan program, the Republicans are significantly increasing the cost of student loans to students. Some estimates indicate that the GOP plan may increase the cost of the cost of these loans by as much as $2000 per undergraduate, and between $6000 and $38,000 per graduate student.

It does not take a math major to realize that many smart, hard-working young people will simply be priced out of an education, or at the very least forced to attend a less expensive community college. Hundreds of thousands of students would lose Direct Student Loans, Pell Grants, Perkins Loans and State Student Incentive Grants — making the dream of a college education a mirage for many young people from less privileged families.

Why have the Republicans singled out education and student loans as they sharpen their budget axe? To balance the federal budget? To reign in federal spending? Perhaps to fund some other, more crucial national priority? In fact, none of the above.

These cuts coincide with a massive Republican tax cut, aimed at the wealthiest Americans. While you could be shut out of college education altogether, the richest 1.1 million Americans would reap a $20,000 tax windfall every year.

According to the Republican trickle-down philosophy, this is somehow supposed to make us all better off. Never mind that during the 1980s, the last time we tried this trickle-down approach, the gap between the rich and the poor widened dramatically, the national debt swelled, and America’s economic competitiveness stumbled.

In an economy that is desperately in need of well-educated people, these cuts in education are clearly bad public policy, and a drain on America’s competitiveness. In a nation that has always prided itself on providing every child with the opportunity to rise as high as their talents can carry them, the Republican assault on education is a repudiation of everything America stands for.

How can we even consider slashing funds for students before paring back every inch of waste and bureaucracy in our government? How can we even fathom these deep education cuts — far out of proportion to all other budget cuts — at a time when the Republicans want to actually increase defense spending? And how dare the Republicans propose these education cuts at the same time they’re doling out huge tax breaks for the most privileged citizens and corporations?

My fear is that if we allow these Republican proposals to become law — if we roll back the broad educational opportunities that enabled me to attend college and law school in the ’60s, and enable so many millions of young people to obtain good educations today — the damage may be impossible to undo.

We cannot afford to lose a generation of well-trained and well-skilled workers. We cannot afford to waste the potential of millions of talented young people.

In my view, this is a lesson Congressional Republicans must learn in the weeks ahead, and it is one we all have an obligation to help teach them.

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Richard A. Gephardt is the Democratic leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, and represents the 3rd District of Missouri in Congress.