Reverse the Raid on Student Aid Act of 2006

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H.R. 5603, a 3-month extension of the Higher Education Act. I have enjoyed working with the new chairman of the subcommittee Mr. Keller on this bill.

This bill, in essence, temporarily extends the last portions of the Higher Education Act not reauthorized in the reconciliation package.

During the 1998 reauthorization, I had the opportunity to work closely with Chairman McKeon, now chairman of the full committee, in crafting a bipartisan bill. Our reauthorization attempts this Congress have been a little more rocky than in 1998. Most of the hard-hitting changes to the Higher Education Act and student aid have already been passed in reconciliation, which I opposed. That action forever removed nearly $12 billion from student aid programs and missed an opportunity to reinvest in students who are already struggling to pay for college.

In response, along with Representative Miller, I recently introduced a bill called the Reverse the Raid on Student Aid Act, H.R. 5150. This bill would have cut interest rates in half for students and parents taking out subsidized loans, the borrowers most in need. This bill would save the average borrower already saddled with $17,500 in debt $6,600 over the life of their loan.

The consideration and passage of the Reverse the Raid on Student Aid Act is a critical investment in our global competitiveness and would offer real relief to students and families in need.

Let's set the record straight on Pell. Today we will hear about Republican support of Pell Grants. Yes, overall, spending on Pell Grants is on the rise, but Pell Grants are semientitlement programs, which means that if eligible students apply for Federal financial aid, they automatically get a Pell Grant. The increased spending they referred to is not because we are doing more to help individual students struggling to pay for college; this is because more students qualify, and more students are going to college. In other words, Mr. Speaker, we have more poor students that need our help.

In reality, the individual Pell Grant has seen no meaningful increase in the last 5 years. In fact, Pell Grants today are worth $900 less in inflation-adjusted terms than they were in the 1975-1976 school year.

Until the appropriators restore the actual buying power of the Pell Grant to the $5,100 level promised by our President 6 years ago, we have not done anything meaningful in helping the students and families struggling to pay for college.

As we worked towards reauthorizing the remainder of the higher education through H.R. 609 in March, I had hoped we could change the tone of debate and act in the interest of the students that the Higher Education Act was intended to help. Unfortunately, in the end, my concerns in the bill still far outweighed any benefit. The bill that was considered was not something I considered comfortable to support, and, for that reason, opposed it.

Again, I would like to thank Chairman Keller and Chairman McKeon for offering H.R. 5603, the 3-month extension of the Higher Education Act. And because we still have time to work on this, and hopefully things can change, we can achieve some repair work, repair of the reconciliation act. I will support this and have cosponsored the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Bishop).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews).

(Mr. ANDREWS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time and yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the subcommittee chairman for his works on bringing this bill to the floor, and thank Mr. Kildee for his work in supporting the bill.

It is important that we extend this act and give the Senate time to act on the bill, so I would encourage all of our colleagues to support the bill to help our young people get the education they need to realize the American dream.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5603, the Second Higher Education Extension Act of 2006. I thank the Chairman of the 21st Century Competitiveness Subcommittee, Mr. Keller, for his work on this bill, as well as his consistent efforts on behalf of our Nation's college students and their families.

Discretionary programs under the Higher Education Act will expire on June 30, 2006, and this legislation before us simply extends the programs for an additional three months.

Earlier this year, when the Deficit Reduction Act was signed into law, we authorized the Act's mandatory spending programs. In the process, we reduced lender subsidies; increased loan limits for students; simplified the financial aid process; and provided additional resources for needy students studying math, science, and critical foreign languages in college. And we managed to achieve all that while also making certain that student aid programs operate more efficiently, saving U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars.

In March, the House backed H.R. 609, the College Access & Opportunity Act, which would reauthorize the remaining programs under the Higher Education Act. This bill would strengthen the Pell Grant program, empower parents and students through ``sunshine'' and transparency in college costs and accreditation, improve college access programs, and much more. I am hopeful that our friends on the other side of the Capitol will act on these reforms soon so these extensions will become a thing of the past.

In the meantime, however, Congress again must act to extend the Higher Education Act, which we have done previously on several occasions and with bipartisan support. The Second Higher Education Extension Act will ensure that vital Federal college access and student aid programs continue to serve those students who depend upon them. At the same time, the bill also gives our Senate colleagues additional time to complete a renewal of the Higher Education Act.

Mr. Speaker, we are facing new realities in an increasingly competitive global economy. U.S. workers of today are no longer just competing with one another for jobs, but also against counterparts across the globe. One avenue we have for tackling today's new climate is through education in general, but more significantly through higher education. That's why the Federal investment in the Higher Education Act is so vital. Our Nation has millions of low and middle income students aspiring to go to college. They not only deserve an opportunity to educate themselves, but we personally depend on their having that opportunity.

I encourage my colleagues to support the bill before us today and continue to work toward a fundamental reform package so that we can better serve American students pursuing the dream of a college education.

Mr. Speaker, almost 3 months to the day, I stood here in support of the third extension to the Higher Education Act with the hope that it would be the last short-term measure we needed to pass before we finally produced an improved bipartisan and long overdue reauthorization bill that reflects the best interest of America's college students.

I now rise in support of H.R. 5603 with a different hope, that the pending version of the Higher Education Act that the House passed in late March does not advance in the Senate, and that during the next session of Congress, under a new majority, we start over by making this legislation truly about increasing access and affordability.

On July 1, student borrowers will be burdened with a higher interest rate on their loans as a result of the administration's fiscal irresponsibility. Student loan interest rates are based on the 91-day T-bill, which is directly tied to the status of our economy. Based on today's current T-bill, interest rates for student borrowers who do not consolidate by July 1 will jump from 5.3 percent to 7.14 percent, which is a 34 percent increase in the rate.

Record-breaking budget deficits, tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, and an economic policy flawed by fiscal

irresponsibility have resulted in higher interest rates and our Nation's students having to pay for the mistakes of this administration and this Congress.

Last year the House leadership chose to cut student loans to the tune of $12 billion through the Deficit Reduction Act. With those cuts in the budget reconciliation bill, and now with higher interest rates on student loans, we are sending a message to America's students and their families that they are no longer among this Nation's top priorities.

As high school graduates and their proud parents calculate how they can squeeze college costs into their budget, they are discovering that it is an uphill climb for most families, made tougher by new higher interest rates.

Mr. Speaker, I support this extension that we are considering here today, but I do not support the direction and actions of this Congress as it relates to higher education. We must do more to ensure that every qualified student has the chance to go to college.

Mr. Speaker, the last couple of weeks and months have been times of mixed emotions for a lot of American families. Many people got the thick envelope in the mail that told them they were accepted to the school they really want to get into. And then it became time to figure out how to pay for it.

Now, a few families were fortunate enough, very few families were fortunate enough, they have enough income to meet the tuition payment. Others immediately went down to the bank and made a home equity loan application to figure out a way to borrow enough money to send their son or daughter to school. Others weren't so fortunate and had to decide some other course, maybe including not going to school at all. And then others who are themselves already parents who are raising children and working full time just can't figure out a way to do it without putting themselves so far in debt that it makes no sense to get an education.

This bill is a missed opportunity to address that problem. There were significant savings generated in the student loan programs that were thrown away by the reconciliation bill, the budget-cutting bill passed by this Congress late in 2005. Money that could have been used to raise loan limits, eliminate origination fees, expand programs where people can pay back their loan as a function of their income, money that could have been used to increase Pell Grants was instead put into the economic priorities of this majority: tax cuts for the very wealthy, subsidies for corporate America and misadventures around the world. So here we are feebly extending existing terms of this bill, while millions of American families struggle with the very real problem of how to pay for a higher education.

This is a missed opportunity. It calls for a radical change in the country's priorities away from tax breaks for the wealthy, away from welfare for corporate America, away from misadventures around the world, toward educating and investing in the people of this country. Those changes in priorities are coming.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5603) to temporarily extend the programs under the Higher Education Act of 1965, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 5603.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5603, the Second Higher Education Extension Act of 2006. This bill will provide a clean extension of the Higher Education Act for 3 months. This bill enjoys bipartisan support and is cosponsored by the chairman and ranking members of the full Education Committee and the Higher Education Subcommittee.

On March 30, 2006, the House of Representatives completed its work and passed the College Access and Opportunity Act to fully reauthorize the Higher Education Act. We strengthened Pell Grants, improved the Perkins Loan program, and expanded access for millions of American students.

However, the Senate has not yet acted to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. The Senate should soon act to pass the reauthorization bill so we

can have these important higher education reforms signed into law during this session of Congress.

Mr. Speaker, this is a clean extension that will allow the important programs of the Higher Education Act to continue past their current June 30, 2006, expiration date until September 30, 2006. Programs like Pell Grants and Perkins Loans are the passports out of poverty for millions of American students. We must not break our commitment to higher education.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 5603.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from California, the chairman of the full Education and Workforce Committee, Mr. McKeon.

Mr. Speaker, I also yield back the balance of my time.