[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 108 (Monday, July 30, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H4811-H4813]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1615
 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE ACCESS ACT TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS ACT OF 
                                  2001

  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1499) to amend the District of Columbia College Access Act 
of 1999 to permit individuals who graduated from a secondary school 
prior to 1998 and individuals who enroll in an institution of higher 
education more than 3 years after graduating from a secondary school to 
participate in the tuition assistance programs under such Act, and for 
other purposes.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 1499

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``District of Columbia College 
     Access Act Technical Corrections Act of 2001''.

     SEC. 2. REVISIONS TO ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR TUITION 
                   ASSISTANCE UNDER DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE 
                   ACCESS ACT.

       (a) Permitting Certain Individuals To Participate in 
     Tuition Assistance Program.--
       (1) Individuals graduating from secondary school prior to 
     1998.--Section 3(c)(2)(B) of the District of Columbia College 
     Access Act of 1999 (Public Law 106-98; 113 Stat. 1325) is 
     amended by striking ``on or after January 1, 1998''.
       (2) Individuals enrolling more than 3 years after 
     graduating from secondary school.--Section 3(c)(2) of such 
     Act (Public Law 106-98; 113 Stat. 1325) is amended by 
     striking subparagraph (C).
       (b) Prohibiting Participation of Foreign Nationals.--
     Section 3(c)(2) of such Act (Public Law 106-98; 113 Stat. 
     1325), as amended by subsection (a)(2), is amended by 
     inserting after subparagraph (B) the following:
       ``(C) meets the citizenship and immigration status 
     requirements described in section 484(a)(5) of the Higher 
     Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1091(a)(5));''.

     SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the 
     date of the enactment of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Petri). Pursuant to the rule, the 
gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella) and the gentlewoman from the 
District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella).


                             General Leave

  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks on this legislation.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Maryland?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. 
Norton) introduced H.R. 1499 on April 4, 2001. The gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis) and I were original cosponsors of the 
legislation. I want to thank the gentlewoman from the District of 
Columbia for her diligent work and commitment to the students of the 
District of Columbia both during the 1999 passage of the District of 
Columbia College Access Act and in the introduction of the bill before 
us. H.R. 1499 makes amendments to the District of Columbia's tuition 
assistance grant program that was authorized by the passage of the 
District of Columbia College Access Act.
  The legislation under consideration would permit District of Columbia 
residents who graduated from secondary school prior to 1998, and also 
those who enroll in an institution of higher education more than 3 
years after graduating from a secondary school, to participate in the 
tuition assistance program. The original act limited participation to 
those students who graduated from secondary school after January 1, 
1998. This amendment would allow current college juniors and seniors to 
be eligible to receive the benefits of the College Access Act. Because 
the original 1999 act was passed with enough funding for the current 
juniors and seniors to participate in the program, there is sufficient 
money for this group of students to benefit from the provision.
  The legislation removes the 3-year deadline for college admission 
after graduation from high school to be eligible for the program. This 
restriction prevented individuals who needed to work before entering a 
college program, or who had other plans, from participating. The 
amendment follows the policy that the U.S. Department of Education 
places on its scholarship program.
  Finally, H.R. 1499 closes the loophole that permitted foreign 
nationals who live in the District of Columbia to receive grants 
through this program. The legislation requires that individuals meet 
the citizenship and immigration status requirement of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1499 is an extremely important bill for the 
students of the District of Columbia and the citizens of our Nation's 
capital. As a matter of fairness, these students should have the same 
educational opportunities as students in our 50 States. Colleges and 
universities will commence their educational year in a month. I urge 
swift passage of this bill so that the other body can also act on H.R. 
1499 expeditiously, enabling more District citizens to receive a high-
quality, affordable college education.
  In its 2-year existence, the District of Columbia tuition access 
program has helped 1,800 people pay for their higher education. We look 
forward to many more taking advantage of this wonderful opportunity.
  Mr. Speaker, the people who will participate in this program to 
obtain higher education will become wage earners, taxpayers, productive 
members of our

[[Page H4812]]

national community; and there may be some who will be interested in 
public service or in running for Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, again I want to express my appreciation to the 
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton), the ranking 
member on the Subcommittee on the District of Columbia, for her 
perseverance in correcting the College Access Act. I also want to 
recognize the former chair of the Subcommittee on the District of 
Columbia, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis), for his support, 
guidance and commitment in bringing this bill to the floor.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Ms. NORTON asked and was given permission to revise and extend her 
remarks.)
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, may I thank our Chair, the gentlewoman from 
Maryland (Mrs. Morella), for her work on this bill and for striving 
successfully to get it to the floor so quickly. I appreciate the work 
she has done and the work of her staff.
  I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1499, the College Access 
Technical Corrections Act of 2001, a bill that would close a gap by 
allowing all D.C. residents who qualify to receive the valuable 
benefits of the College Access Act passed by the Congress in 1999. I 
want to thank the Chair of the Subcommittee on the District of 
Columbia, the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella), and the past 
Chair of the subcommittee, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis), 
who are original cosponsors of this bill and particularly the gentleman 
from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis), who was the sponsor of the original 
College Access Act and worked diligently in both Houses for its 
passage.
  H.R. 1499 was passed unanimously in both the Subcommittee on the 
District of Columbia and the full Committee on Government Reform prior 
to coming to the floor today. It has the enthusiastic support of Mayor 
Williams and the council of the District of Columbia as well as, of 
course, of D.C. residents. Indeed, I want to thank the Congress for its 
strong support of the District of Columbia College Access Act in 1999. 
Residents have enthusiastically moved to take advantage of this 
opportunity.
  The act is now responsible for nearly 2,000 D.C. students who are 
attending public colleges and universities nationwide at in-state rates 
or receiving a $2,500 stipend to private colleges and universities in 
the District and the region. It is impossible to overestimate the 
importance of this act to the District, which has only an open-
admissions university and no State university system. A college degree 
is critical in the District of Columbia today, because this is a white 
collar and technology city and region with few factories or other 
opportunities for jobs that provide good wages.
  The College Access Act has provided opportunities for D.C. residents 
to afford a public college education both here in the region and around 
the country. For the first time since the city was established 200 
years ago this year, District residents have choices for a public 
college education routinely available to Americans in the 50 States.
  H.R. 1499 would improve the College Access Act by removing two 
restrictions that have prevented some D.C. residents from qualifying 
for the in-state tuition and other benefits of the act. The first 
restriction is a requirement that only students who graduated from high 
school after January 1, 1998, qualify. The second restriction is 
language that provides that students who graduated from high school 
more than 3 years ago do not qualify. These two provisions were 
originally placed in the act because with no prior experience with this 
approach, Congress was not certain that the annual appropriation would 
be sufficient. Today, the District has demonstrated that the funds 
allocated are indeed sufficient to accommodate the current college 
seniors and some juniors as well as older students who are adversely 
affected by these restrictions. H.R. 1499 also closes a loophole that 
allows foreign nationals who live in the District to receive the 
benefits of the act, a result not intended by the sponsors of the 
original legislation.
  We need to pass this bill now and get it to the Senate, because this 
year's college graduating class is among the residents who are 
affected. The D.C. tuition assistance grant office, which administers 
the college access program, is prepared to deliver funds to these 
seniors and also to the juniors who previously did not qualify. In 
addition, older students who did not qualify are eager to take 
advantage of the program in time for the next college year in 
September.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill that would go far toward 
affording to the residents of the Nation's capital opportunities that 
are equal to those provided throughout the United States.
  Again, I would like to thank our Chair, the gentlewoman from Maryland 
(Mrs. Morella), and also the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton), 
chairman of the full Committee on Government Reform, who enabled this 
legislation to go before the full committee without hesitation and 
quickly to arrive on the floor today and the ranking member of the full 
committee, the gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman), who has been 
supportive throughout, for their work on the bill and for bringing this 
bill to the floor so quickly.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Again, I want to thank the chairman of the full committee, the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton), and the ranking member, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman), and particularly to thank the 
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) for the 
leadership that she has provided both in the previous bill and in this 
bill, which is, I think, an improvement, and corrections act to the 
D.C. College Access Act. I also reiterate my appreciation to the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis) for getting us started on the 
D.C. access bill.
  This seems to be an education afternoon, because we had the enactment 
of the National Mathematics and Science Partnerships Act, we had the 
enactment of the National Science Education Act, and now this District 
of Columbia College Access Act improvements. I think it says that for 
us in Congress we recognize the fact that more expensive than education 
is ignorance, and we have no room for ignorance in our country.
  I urge passage of this legislation.
  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of 
H.R. 1499, the District of Columbia College Access Act Technical 
Corrections Act of 2001.
  Two years ago, I introduced the D.C. College Access Act of 1999 along 
with my colleague, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. The Act allows 
recent high school graduates in D.C. to pay in-state tuition at public 
colleges in Maryland and Virginia. It also provides tuition assistance 
grants for students attending private colleges in the District, 
Maryland, or Virginia. Since D.C. is not a state, the thousands of high 
school seniors who graduated from city schools each year had to pay 
out-of-state tuition rates when attending any public college or 
university other than the University of the District of Columbia. 
College-bound students in each of the 50 states have a vast network of 
state-supported institutions to attend. The D.C. College Access Act of 
1999 has leveled the playing field for eligible D.C. residents. It 
gives D.C. graduates more choices, and provides an incentive for more 
families to remain in the nation's capital.
  Due to funding constraints, eligibility under the Act was limited. It 
was always our intention that all District of Columbia residents 
holding a secondary school diploma or the equivalent would eventually 
have access to this program. That is why I support H.R. 1499. The bill 
expands the application of the D.C. College Access Act of 1999 by 
opening the eligibility requirements to those individuals who graduated 
from secondary school prior to 1998 and also to individuals who enroll 
in an institution of higher education more than three years after 
graduating from a secondary school.
  This bill ensures that a greater number of D.C. residents are 
eligible to receive tuition assistance thereby broadening their 
educational opportunities at the undergraduate level. Therefore, I urge 
all of my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 1499.
  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1499.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.

[[Page H4813]]

  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________