To extend the authority of the Secretary of Education to purchase guaranteed student loans for an additional year, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6889, a bill to extend the authority of the Secretary of Education to purchase guaranteed student loans for an additional year. And I do want to thank my friends, the senior Republicans, Mr. McKeon and Mr. Keller, as well as the two significant chairmen, Mr. Miller and Mr. Hinojosa, who introduced this extension.

We have been reading about the instability that still exists in the credit markets, and, in fact, it has gotten worse. Through this extension, Congress is assuring students and families that they will be able to receive the Federal assistance they need to pay for school.

The steps in the underlying bill are modest, but they make a real difference for students and families. I appreciate that this bill carries no cost to taxpayers, proving that we can use a creative approach to respond to economic difficulties without bloated spending that will drive up taxes.

Since the implementation of H.R. 5715, we have seen at least 10 lenders take advantage of the program that has been put in place. Without this relief, these lenders could have dropped out of the program altogether. Up until this point, we have seen over 6,000 employees laid off as a result of the cutbacks lenders have had to make. In addition, 106 lenders have suspended their lending service as a result of the credit crunch and the cuts made in the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. Without this extension, students could attend college this year without knowing whether the financing would be there to attend college next year.

In difficult economic times, many Americans turn to higher education. That's because a college degree continues to be one of the single best investments an individual, and our Nation, can actually make. College graduates have higher lifetime earnings, lower unemployment rates, greater civic involvement, and exhibit numerous other qualities that help enrich our society and keep our Nation competitive.

With all the benefits of higher education, it's concerning that amid these economic uncertainties many current and prospective students are worried about whether they will be able to access student loans. And as more and more students look to higher education to help get them through these difficult economic times, we cannot allow market turbulence to limit college access.

This extension signals our unwavering support for the Nation's largest source of financial aid, the Federal Family Education Loan Program. It is a crucial step that will help protect students and families and restore market confidence.

Mr. Chairman, I know how important it is that higher education be made affordable and accessible. This is particularly important in our turbulent economy. For the same reason, it's important that we come together to pass an all-of-the-above energy reform package that will help bring down prices and free us from our costly dependence on foreign oil.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that stabilizing our loan program will have an economic positive yield, just as solving the real problems of energy will have an economic yield. Our energy prices and energy problems are not just affecting those who stop at the pump, they affect those who will be trying to heat their homes this winter; they affect those who will be trying to buy food; they affect not just commuters, but all of us. Students as well as parents need real solutions to the energy crisis that is confronting us. They need to be able to make the commute. They need to be able to make those heating payments. They need to realize the cost of food will not keep spiraling upwards simply because farmers cannot afford energy to put into their tractors to grow the food and truckers cannot afford the energy to take that produce and send it to the markets where we can then buy it and enjoy it.

We have to realize that the solution to this problem has to be an all-of-the-above approach, that we are not doing enough to encourage conservation by small business or by citizens. But even if we did the maximum amount of conservation efforts, that still does not solve the entire problem. It's estimated that if the most stringent efforts of conservation were put in place, only about half of the foreign imports that we bring into this country would be eliminated; the other half would still have to be there.

We also have not done enough over the last few years to put in infrastructure so that we can move energy from one part of this country to the other. There are bottlenecks all over this country in which energy cannot take place. There is plenty of pipeline for natural gas going from the Gulf of Mexico up north, but it cannot get to New England because there is a bottleneck that we have yet to solve in that particular problem. That infrastructure problem needs to be addressed. The lack of refinery capacity needs to be addressed. The lack of electrical corridors needs to be addressed.

We also have to recognize that we do not have a successful payment plan for alternative energies for the future, not only for our immediate problems, but for the long-term problems of this particular country. We need to recognize that this is a supply and demand issue, and that that supply can only be satisfied if we have an all-of-the- above strategy.

There is not a single source of energy that does not have some detractor. I was amazed to read in the local paper the other day about a detractor from a wind farm who said that the noise of the blades kept him up at night, and that they chopped up too many birds, which violates our Migratory Bird Treaty. I was amazed to find out that somebody was opposed to a solar energy plant down in New Mexico because it would consume too much of the desert land.

There is not a source of energy that doesn't have someone who will jump up and complain about it and potentially bring a lawsuit about it. That is why if we start to take any of those resource potentials off the table, we might as well take them all off because everything drops one after the other. The only way to be fair and the only way to be equitable and the only way to make sure that we have a real solution is to make sure that every source of energy known to this country, every source of energy in this country is on the table and is part of the real solutions.

Our students, for their future, require that. The parents, for the present, require that. The citizens of this country demand an all-of- the-above approach and that it be talked about in committees, in public hearings, and here on the floor. Nothing else solves the problem. And our goal and responsibility should be to come to this Congress to solve the problem, not try to create a political atmosphere so that we can take credit for what may or may not happen, but simply to solve the problem.

If we do not fulfill our responsibility, the students who will benefit from these extensions will have a short-lived benefit and will not look at us in kindness for the generosity when we help them get their education, but refuse to allow this economy to sustain them post- education.

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

If I may, once again; I appreciate the remarks that have been given. I am fully supportive of this particular piece of legislation, I urge my colleagues to do so as well. But I also realize that, in the words of the Broadway song, ``It's a fine, fine line between reality and pretend.''

I certainly hope that when we come to this floor and actually deal with the issue of energy once and for all, we have the ability of dealing with the reality of the situation for a real solution. That's the crying need.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6889) to extend the authority of the Secretary of Education to purchase guaranteed student loans for an additional year, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on H.R. 6889 into the Record.

I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 6889, legislation to extend the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act for an additional year.

We are all united in our commitment to provide every assurance to students and families that there will be no disruption in the Federal student loans program regardless of what is happening in the financial markets.

In May, the President signed the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act. This law is providing much-needed liquidity to the student loan marketplace by authorizing the Secretary on a temporary basis to purchase student loans so that lenders have the funds to make new loans.

As a result of our swift action, there has been no disruption in students' and families' access to loans for the 2008-2009 academic year.

The Department of Education, the lenders, secondary markets, guaranty agencies, and institutions of higher education are to be commended for their efforts to get new financing systems in place and operational for the start of this academic year.

Their cooperation has ensured continued access to college loans.

Come spring, students and families will be making their plans for the next academic year. Given the ongoing turmoil in our financial markets, it is critical that we extend the authority for the Secretary to purchase student loans to avoid any uncertainty about the access to this critical source of student financial aid. It would be a tragedy for a student to decide to forego or postpone college because of a fear of not being able to get a Federal student loan.

This legislation has no budgetary cost. It will simply extend the Secretary's authority under the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act for an additional year.

Mr. Speaker, students and families will be able to rest assured that we have the mechanisms in place to make sure that there is sufficient capital for student loans even if the current credit crisis continues or worsens.

This Congress has taken unprecedented steps to make college more accessible and more affordable. We enacted the largest increase in student aid with the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, a $20 billion investment in human capital. In August, the President signed the Higher Education Opportunity Act into law.

The legislation takes significant steps to improve our student aid delivery system, ensure the integrity of our student loan programs, and provide students and families with the tools that they need to make informed choices about which college to attend and how to finance it. These are complex issues, and on a bipartisan, bicameral basis, we came together with some practical solutions.

Today's legislation is another example of our bipartisan commitment to college access. I would like to thank our committee chairman, George Miller, and our senior Republicans on the full committee and the Higher Education Subcommittee, Representative Buck McKeon and Representative Ric Keller from Florida, for their leadership in quickly moving this legislation forward. We stand united in our goal of ensuring continued access to student loans.

I urge all my colleagues to support H.R. 6889.

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Congressman Bishop from the State of Utah for his support of this student loan extension, H.R. 6889. And let me reassure him that this week, if our friends and colleagues from the great State of Texas and the State of Louisiana are able to get back because of the devastation that occurred with Hurricane Ike, we will be able to address the energy bill that he was referring to. And I am sure that the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, and others in leadership position are prepared to give us the opportunity to take care of this great need that we have throughout our country on the lack of energy.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 6889, which would extend the authority of the Secretary of Education to purchase Federal guaranteed loans previously made under the Federal Family Education Loan, FFEL, Program and advance funds for lender-of-last resort loans. I believe this bill is premature and is merely a response to alarms raised by an industry that has continually benefited from government subsidies.

Earlier this year, the lending community expressed serious concerns that unstable credit markets would affect their ability to provide Federal student loans for the upcoming school year. In response, Congress approved the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008, which put in place several provisions to ensure that students and families had continued, uninterrupted access to Federal loans, regardless of what is happening in the credit markets. That measure gave the Secretary of Education the temporary authority to buy back loans from lenders participating in the FFEL program.

However, now almost four months after the emergency provisions were signed into law and one month into the fall semester, it has become clear that despite the credit crunch students are having little trouble securing Federal student loans. The New England Board of Higher Education and the New England Council recently released a survey of its region's financial aid officers that revealed ``students and parents experienced little or no problems accessing Federal student loans for this fall.'' Schools in my own State of Wisconsin have told me that students are encountering few difficulties in securing Federal student loans, and in fact, any disruption has simply resulted in some students to switching lenders. Recently, the State of Massachusetts called off a plan to provide public financing to a State nonprofit lender because only a small percentage of students were still looking for a lender. Over 2,000 lenders continue to participate in the FFEL program.

Furthermore, this year hundreds of schools, including Penn State, Michigan State and Indiana, decided it was in the best interests of their students to leave the Federal Family Education Loan Program, FFEL, and enroll in the Direct Loan Program because it is immune to the effects of the credit crunch and provides the exact same Federal loans to their students. In fact, the Direct Loan Program has seen a 47 percent increase over last year in the amount of loans originated. Schools are reporting they are happy with the transition to the program, and the Education Department has continually asserted that the Direct Loan Program is capable of handling the increased capacity.

Therefore, I find it alarming that just four months after passing the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008, and with widespread agreement that there currently is no student loan crisis, we have decided to extend until 2010 these authorities that provide government liquidity and financing to private lenders. While it is impossible to say these authorities did not help avoid a crisis, it's equally impossible to say private sector funds will not be available next year for student loans. I find it curious that today's action coincides with reports from the lending community that, despite the fact that there is no real crisis this year, one may exist in the 2009- 10 school year.

While there is no doubt that the financial markets remain unsettled, the current authority for these powers runs through July 31, 2009. Washington is once again eager to extend temporary authorities. Instead of rushing to react to the ``alarms'' sounded by the lending community, I believe it would be more prudent for Congress to continue to monitor the situation in the student loan markets to determine if more action is really necessary before we extend another handout to an industry that has continually proven to work in the interests of their own pocketbooks and not for students and taxpayers.

Madam Speaker, due to illness that required hospitalization, I missed the following votes. I would have voted as follows:

Rollcall vote 567--S. 2403--A bill to designate the new Federal Courthouse, located in the 700 block of East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, as the ``Spottswood W. Robinson III and Robert R. Merhige, Jr. Federal Courthouse''--``yes.''

Rollcall vote 568--S. 2837--A bill to designate the United States courthouse located at 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, New York, as the ``Theodore Roosevelt United States Courthouse''--``yes.''

Rollcall vote 569--S. 2135--Child Soldiers Accountability Act-- ``yes.''

Rollcall vote 570--H. Con. Res. 344--Recognizing that we are facing a lobal food crisis--``yes.''

Rollcall vote 571--H. Res. 937--Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the emergency communications services provided by the American Red Cross are vital resources for military servicemembers and their families--``yes.''

Rollcall vote 572--H. Res. 1069--Condemning the use of television programming by Hamas to indoctrinate hatred, violence, and anti- Semitism toward Israel in young Palestinian children--``yes.''

Rollcall vote 573--H. Res. 1307--Commemorating the Kingdom of Bhutan's participation in the 2008 Smithsonian Folklife Festival and commending the people and the Government of the Kingdom of Bhutan for their commitment to holding elections and broadening political participation--``yes.''

Rollcall vote 574--H.R. 6168--Lance Corporal Drew W. Weaver Post Office Building--``yes,''

Rollcall vote 575--H.R. 6630--To prohibit the Secretary of Transportation from granting authority to a motor carrier domiciled in Mexico to operate beyond United States municipalities and commercial zones on the United States-Mexico border unless expressly authorized by Congress--``yes.''

Rollcall vote 576--H. Res. 1419--On Ordering the Previous Question Providing for consideration of H.R. 3667, Missisquoi and Trout Rivers Wild and Scenic River Study Act of 2008--``yes.''.

Rollcall vote 577--H. Res. 1419--On Agreeing to the Resolution Providing for consideration of H.R. 3667, Missisquoi and Trout Rivers Wild and Scenic River Study Act of 2008--``yes.''

Rollcall vote 578--H.R. 1527, The Rural Veterans Access to Care Act-- ``yes.''

Rollcall vote 579--S. 2617, The Veterans Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2008--``yes.''

Rollcall vote 580--H.R. 3667, On Motion that the Committee Rise-- ``yes.''

Rollcall vote 581--Grijalva of Arizona Amendment to H.R. 3667-- ``yes.''

Rollcall vote 582--H.R. 3667--Table Appeal of the Ruling of the Chair--``yes.''

Rollcall vote 583--H.R. 3667--On passage of the Missisquoi and Trout Rivers Wild and Scenic River Study Act of 2008--``yes.''

Rollcall vote 584--H.R. 4081, The Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act of 2007--``yes.''

Rollcall vote 589--H. Res. 1200, Honoring the dedication and outstanding work of military support groups across the country for their steadfast support of the members of our Armed Forces and their families--``yes.''

Rollcall vote 590--H. Con. Res. 390, Honoring the 28th Infantry Division for serving and protecting the United States--``yes.''

Rollcall vote 591--H.R. 6889, To extend the authority of the Secretary of Education to purchase guaranteed student loans for an additional year, and for other purposes--``yes.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 6889, which will extend the authority of the Secretary of Education to ensure the continued access to Federal student loans for one more year, introduced by my distinguished colleague from California, Representative George Miller. This significant piece of legislation provides greater access to colleges and universities, making higher education affordable for all Americans, not just the wealthy.

A quality education continues to be the best pathway to social and economic mobility in this country. Earlier this year, we passed H.R. 5715 (now Public Law 110-227), the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008.

Facts on Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act

This legislation amended under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) by:

Increasing annual and aggregate borrowing limits for unsubsidized Stafford Loans to undergraduate students;

delaying the start of repayment for parent borrowers of PLUS Loans;

extending eligibility for individuals with adverse credit to borrow PLUS Loans, under extenuating circumstances;

revising procedures for ensuring the availability of lender-of-last- resort, LLR, loans under the FFEL program;

temporarily authorizing the Secretary to purchase loans previously made under the FFEL program at no net cost to the Federal Government; and

expanding eligibility for aid provided through American Competitiveness, AC, Grants and Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent, SMART, Grants.

The Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008 also expresses a sense of Congress that institutions such as the Federal Financing Bank, the Federal Reserve, and Federal Home Loan Banks, in consultation with the Secretaries of Education and the Treasury, should consider using available authorities to assist in ensuring continued access to Federal student loans for students and their families; and that any action taken by these entities should not limit the Secretary's authority with regard to the LLR program, nor the Secretary's authority to purchase loans previously made under the FFEL program.

It also requires the Government Accountability Office, GAO, to evaluate the impact that increases in Federal student loan limits may have on tuition, fees, room and board, and on the borrowing of private, non-federal, student loans.

Conclusion

In this time of economic downturns, costly natural disasters, rising food and gas prices--families are focused on meeting their basic needs and having a hard time saving for educational expenses. Often times Federal loans are all families have to help their children go to college.

We cannot allow our institutions of higher learning to be inaccessible for the vast majority of our youth. This important piece of legislation gives our young people and their families the opportunity to not only dream of attending college but actually realize that dream. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 6889.