[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 96 (Friday, July 17, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8511-S8512]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LUGAR:
  S. 2331. A bill to provide a limited waiver for certain foreign 
students of the requirement to reimburse local educational agencies for 
the costs of the students' education; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.


       limited waiver of costs requirements for foreign students

 Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill to 
permit local school districts to waive the cost requirements of foreign 
students studying in our public high schools in the United States on F-
1 visas. The law now mandates that all foreign students who are not in 
a government-funded exchange program must pay or reimburse the costs of 
their education in American public schools.
  In those public school districts flooded with foreign students who 
pay no taxes, this requirement makes good sense. However, in those 
school districts which enroll a small number of foreign students and 
bear a tolerable burden there may be no need or desire for 
reimbursement. The decision to enroll and to require cost reimbursement 
should be made at the local level. Current law, however, does not 
permit this local discretion. The bill I am introducing will allow 
local school districts to waive the requirement that foreign students 
must pay for the cost of their education. The decision to waive or not 
waive this requirement should be made at the grass roots level, not in 
Washington and my bill seeks to preserve this principle. It would amend 
the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 
(IIRIRA).

[[Page S8512]]

  Foreign exchange students bring knowledge, cultural exposure and 
understanding to American students, schools and communities. I have 
been a proponent of cultural and educational exchanges and have 
supported most international exchange programs over the years--both 
those which bring foreign visitors here and those which send American 
students, scholars and practitioners abroad. I remain committed to 
these programs.
  In 1996, I supported the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant 
Responsibility Act. This law states that as of November 30, 1996, 
IIRIRA prohibits any alien from receiving an F-1 student visa to attend 
a public elementary school, grades K-8, or a publicly-funded adult 
education program unless they pay the unsubsidized, per capita cost of 
their education in advance. My bill would not change current law 
relating to elementary schools or adult education. It would not pertain 
to students on formal, government-funded international exchanges. It 
would simply allow high school officials to waive the cost of education 
of high school-level foreign students in order to enroll an exchange 
student, should they wish to do so. I believe this has been an 
unintended consequence of IIRIRA.
  Several cities have ``Sister City'' arrangements between American 
cities and cities in foreign countries. One valuable component of these 
arrangements is an exchange program for high school students enabling 
American youth to spend a year in a foreign high school while students 
from abroad spend a year in a high school here. No tuition is generally 
exchanged under the sister city agreement, but current U.S. law states 
that visitors to our country must pay the unsubsidized cost of their 
education, even though American students are exempted from the cost 
requirement.
  Along the Alaska-Yukon, Alaska-British Columbia and U.S.-Mexican 
borders there are schools serving very remote communities on both sides 
of the border. After enactment of the 1996 law, Canadian or Mexican 
students were no longer eligible to enter the United States to attend 
the local public school even though governments and the local school 
districts agreed to enroll the students.
  Many school districts prefer to enroll one or two exchange students a 
year. Reciprocal exchange agreements are beneficial and host families 
enjoy these students in their homes. American exchange students 
attending schools in Germany, for example, are not subjected to the 
same tuition requirements for their schooling, yet they gain an 
understanding of German history and culture and benefit from their 
travels. Currently, U.S. law requires foreign students to pay tuition 
before they arrive in the United States. The extra paper work, the up-
front costs and the extra burden these requirements place on foreign 
students tend to undermine the purposes of cultural exchanges.
  I remain mindful to past abuses of F-1 visas and am sympathetic to 
the burden that large enrollments of foreign students place on American 
public schools. My purpose in introducing this bill today is not to 
weaken the law as it currently reads, but to provide an outlet for our 
schools to give an educational opportunity for enrolling international 
exchange students.

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