[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 126 (Tuesday, October 1, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H6818-H6823]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CANCELING LOANS TO ALLOW SCHOOL SYSTEMS TO ATTRACT CLASSROOM TEACHERS 
                                  ACT

  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 5091) to increase the amount of student loan forgiveness 
available to qualified teachers, with an emphasis on special education 
teachers, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 5091

       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 ``Canceling Loans to Allow 
     School Systems to Attract Classroom Teachers Act''.

     SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL QUALIFIED LOAN AMOUNTS FOR STUDENT LOAN 
                   FORGIVENESS.

       (a) FFEL Loans.--Section 428J(c) of the Higher Education 
     Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078-10(c)) is amended by adding at 
     the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(3) Additional amounts; priority.--
       ``(A) Larger amounts from appropriated funds.--
     Notwithstanding the amount specified in paragraph (1), the 
     aggregate amount that the Secretary may, from funds 
     appropriated under subparagraph (C), repay under this section 
     is a total amount equal to not more than $17,500.
       ``(B) Award basis; priority.--The Secretary shall make 
     payments under this paragraph to elementary or secondary 
     school teachers who meet the requirements of subsection (b) 
     on a first-come first-served basis, subject to the 
     availability of appropriations, but shall give priority in 
     providing loan repayment under this paragraph for a fiscal 
     year to teachers who--
       ``(i)(I) are employed as special education teachers whose 
     primary responsibility is to teach or support children with 
     disabilities (as defined in section 602 of the Individuals 
     with Disabilities Act); and
       ``(II) as certified by the chief administrative officer of 
     the public or nonprofit private elementary or secondary 
     school in which the borrower is employed, are teaching 
     children with disabilities that correspond with the 
     borrower's training and have demonstrated knowledge and 
     teaching skills in the content areas of the elementary or 
     secondary school curriculum that the borrower is teaching;
       ``(ii) are employed as teachers in local educational 
     agencies that are determined by a State educational agency 
     under section 2141 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
     Act of 1965 to have failed to make progress toward meeting 
     the annual measurable objectives described in section 
     1119(a)(2) of such Act for 2 consecutive years; or
       ``(iii) are employed as teachers of mathematics or science.
       ``(C) Authorization of appropriations.--There are 
     authorized to be appropriated to carry out this paragraph 
     such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2003 and for 
     each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.''.
       (b) Direct Loans.--Section 460(c) of the Higher Education 
     Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087j(c)) is amended by adding at the 
     end the following new paragraph:
       ``(3) Additional amounts; priority.--
       ``(A) Larger amounts from appropriated funds.--
     Notwithstanding the amount specified in paragraph (1), the 
     aggregate amount that the Secretary may, from funds 
     appropriated under subparagraph (C), repay under this section 
     is a total amount equal to not more than $17,500.
       ``(B) Award basis; priority.--The Secretary shall make 
     payments under this paragraph to elementary or secondary 
     school teachers who meet the requirements of subsection (b) 
     on a first-come first-served basis, subject to the 
     availability of appropriations, but shall give priority in 
     providing loan repayment under this paragraph for a fiscal 
     year to teachers who--
       ``(i)(I) are employed as special education teachers whose 
     primary responsibility is to teach or support children with 
     disabilities (as defined in section 602 of the Individuals 
     with Disabilities Act); and
       ``(II) as certified by the chief administrative officer of 
     the public or nonprofit private elementary or secondary 
     school in which the borrower is employed, are teaching 
     children with disabilities that correspond with the 
     borrower's training and have demonstrated knowledge and 
     teaching skills in the content areas of the elementary or 
     secondary school curriculum that the borrower is teaching;
       ``(ii) are employed as teachers in local educational 
     agencies that are determined by a State educational agency 
     under section 2141 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
     Act of 1965 to have failed to make progress toward meeting 
     the annual measurable objectives described in section 
     1119(a)(2) of such Act for 2 consecutive years; or
       ``(iii) are employed as teachers of mathematics or science.
       ``(C) Authorization of appropriations.--There are 
     authorized to be appropriated to carry out this paragraph 
     such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2003 and for 
     each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.''.

     SEC. 3. CANCELLATION OF STUDENT LOAN INDEBTEDNESS FOR 
                   SPOUSES, SURVIVING JOINT DEBTORS, AND PARENTS.

       (a) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
       (1) Eligible public servant.--The term ``eligible public 
     servant'' means an individual who--
       (A) served as a police officer, firefighter, other safety 
     or rescue personnel, or as a member of the Armed Forces; and
       (B) died (or dies) or became (or becomes) permanently and 
     totally disabled due to injuries suffered in the terrorist 
     attack on September 11, 2001;
     as determined in accordance with regulations of the 
     Secretary.
       (2) Eligible victim.--The term ``eligible victim'' means an 
     individual who died (or dies) or became (or becomes) 
     permanently and totally disabled due to injuries suffered in 
     the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, as determined in 
     accordance with regulations of the Secretary.
       (3) Eligible spouse.--The term ``eligible spouse'' means 
     the spouse of an eligible public servant, as determined in 
     accordance with regulations of the Secretary.
       (4) Eligible surviving debtor.--The term ``eligible 
     surviving debtor'' means an individual who owes a Federal 
     student loan that is a consolidation loan that was used, 
     jointly by that individual and an eligible victim, to repay 
     the Federal student loans of that individual and of such 
     eligible victim.
       (5) Eligible parent.--The term ``eligible parent'' means 
     the parent of an eligible victim if--
       ``(A) the parent owes a Federal student loan that is a 
     consolidation loan that was used to repay a PLUS loan 
     incurred on behalf of such eligible victim; or
       ``(B) the parent owes a Federal student loan that is a PLUS 
     loan incurred on behalf of an eligible victim who became (or 
     becomes) permanently and totally disabled due to injuries 
     suffered in the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001.
       (6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of Education.
       (7) Federal student loan.--The term ``Federal student 
     loan'' means any loan made, insured, or guaranteed under part 
     B, D, or E of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965.
       (b) Relief From Indebtedness.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary shall provide for the 
     discharge or cancellation of--
       (A) the Federal student loan indebtedness of an eligible 
     spouse;
       (B) the consolidation loan indebtedness of an eligible 
     surviving debtor;
       (C) the portion of the consolidation loan indebtedness of 
     an eligible parent that was incurred on behalf of an eligible 
     victim, if the amount of such indebtedness with respect to 
     such eligible victim may be reliably determined on the basis 
     of records available to the lender; and
       (D) the PLUS loan indebtedness of an eligible parent that 
     was incurred on behalf of an eligible victim described in 
     subsection (a)(5)(B).
       (2) Method of discharge or cancellation.--A loan required 
     to be discharged or canceled under paragraph (1) shall be 
     discharged or canceled by the method used under section 
     437(a), 455(a)(1), or 464(c)(1)(F) of the Higher Education 
     Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087(a), 1087e(a)(1), 
     1087dd(c)(1)(F)), whichever is applicable to such loan.
       (c) Facilitation of Claims.--The Secretary shall--
       (1) establish procedures for the filing of applications for 
     discharge or cancellation under this section by regulations 
     that shall be prescribed and published within 90 days

[[Page H6819]]

     after the date of enactment of this Act and without regard to 
     the requirements of section 553 of title 5, United States 
     Code; and
       (2) take such actions as may be necessary to publicize the 
     availability of discharge or cancellation of Federal student 
     loan indebtedness for eligible spouses, eligible surviving 
     debtors, and eligible parents under this section.
       (d) Availability of Funds for Payments.--Funds available 
     for the purposes of making payments to lenders in accordance 
     with section 437(a) for the discharge of indebtedness of 
     deceased or disabled individuals shall be available for 
     making payments under section 437(a) to lenders of loans to 
     the eligible spouses, eligible surviving debtors, and 
     eligible parents as required by this section.
       (e) Applicable to Outstanding Debt.--The provisions of this 
     section shall be applied to discharge or cancel only Federal 
     student loans (including consolidation loans) on which 
     amounts were owed on September 11, 2001.

     SEC. 4. INFORMATION ON BENEFITS TO RURAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS.

       The Secretary shall--
       (1) notify local educational agencies eligible to 
     participate in the Small Rural Achievement Program authorized 
     under subpart 1 of part B of Title VI of the Elementary and 
     Secondary Education of 1965 of the benefits available under 
     the amendments made by section 2 of this Act to the teachers 
     in the rural schools of such agencies; and
       (2) encourage such agencies to notify their teachers of 
     such benefits.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. McKeon) and the gentleman from California (Mr. George 
Miller) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. McKeon).


                             General Leave

  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
on H.R. 5091.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5091, the Canceling 
Loans to Allow School Systems to Attract Classroom Teachers Act, or the 
CLASS Act, which will help low-income school districts recruit and 
retain high-quality teachers. The bill would provide up to $17,500 in 
student loan forgiveness for teachers who agree to serve in low-income 
schools, with a priority on special education, math and science 
teachers.
  We all know that in order to ensure the academic success of our 
Nation's students, there must be a highly qualified teacher in the 
classroom. In fact, outside of the influence of parents, no other 
factor has a greater correlation to student success.
  Already the Nation faces a serious teacher shortage, and over the 
next decade we must prepare for recruitment of an even larger pool of 
teachers.
  Over the last few years this Congress has looked for ways to provide 
a major boost to schools in their effort to establish and support a 
high-quality teaching force. With passage of the No Child Left Behind 
Act, we have gone a long way toward improving our children's education 
by allowing greater flexibility for local school districts which would 
make it easier for them to recruit and retain excellent teachers.
  One of the hallmarks of the law asks States to have a highly 
qualified teacher in every public classroom by the year 2005, 
emphasizing State and local methods. Since passage of the law, there 
have been numerous reports about the difficulty that some States will 
have in meeting this deadline. This is especially true in those States 
where experienced teachers are in short supply, particularly in schools 
serving low-income and minority children.
  In my home State of California, it will be a tremendous undertaking 
due to the fact that we have more than 50,000 teachers who do not have 
full credentials now. The ranks of these newcomers are expected to grow 
as retirements and attrition take place over the next few years.
  While States should continue to work with the Department of Education 
to meet these challenges, Congress must continue to work to increase 
the number and quality of teachers in the classrooms. The CLASS Act 
helps accomplish this goal by providing local and State school systems 
with a powerful teacher recruitment tool. It will provide a positive 
incentive for college students to enter the field of teaching and to 
make a long-term commitment to the classrooms and students that need 
them most.
  No job is more important to this Nation's future than the education 
of its children. For this reason, I would like to thank the gentleman 
from South Carolina (Mr. Graham), my good friend and colleague, for his 
long-standing commitment to improving the quality of education in our 
Nation's schools, as well as his commitment to the teachers in this 
country.
  This bill recognizes and supports the service and commitment of both 
teachers who serve our children every day in the classroom. I urge my 
colleagues to vote yes on H.R. 5091 and continue our commitment to the 
men and women of this country who do so much for us each day.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5091, the CLASS Act. 
This bill would forgive student loans for teachers and of certain 
September 11 victims. I support this legislation to provide loan 
forgiveness for teachers in high-poverty schools and for special ed 
teachers. This legislation will be a very, very important tool in terms 
of recruiting and our desire to recruit and our ability to recruit and 
retain those teachers in high-poverty schools.
  All Members of Congress are pretty familiar with the challenges that 
are faced by teachers who are teaching in high-poverty schools and the 
set of circumstances that they confront. We believe by directing loan 
forgiveness to these individuals that we will have an opportunity not 
to have them just come in on a revolving-door basis, where they come in 
for 1 year and then bid out of those systems, but they will stay in 
those systems for 4 or 5 years, they will provide some continuity to 
those children, and we will get the results that we desire to have 
under the Leave No Child Behind Act.
  I appreciate the opportunity to work with the gentleman from South 
Carolina (Mr. Graham) and others on this legislation. I will have to 
say, however, that I wish that we would have been able to support the 
gentleman from South Carolina's (Mr. Graham) original legislation, 
which was to provide that this forgiveness would be guaranteed and not 
subject to a year-to-year appropriations. That effort we will have to 
continue to work on.
  My concern is there teachers will not know that this incentive is 
really going to be in place on a year-to-year basis, and it will make 
our job more difficult in getting highly qualified individuals into 
high-poverty schools. If it was not subject to appropriations, then we 
could assure individuals who qualify for it that it would be available 
over the time that they spent in those schools.
  We have a similar program and equally important program dealing with 
child care providers. It is subject to annual appropriations, and so 
far I think we have only helped 76 people nationwide. That is not the 
kind of program that we envision for this piece of legislation, but it 
is also the kind of guarantee that we should be able to provide to 
teachers that that would not happen in this program. Depending on what 
happens in year-to-year budgets within the House of Representatives or 
in years like this where we do not get budgets, we do not get 
appropriations bills, what happens to the teachers who have already 
started teaching for this year? Would they know or not know whether 
they would be eligible for loan forgiveness?
  Next year in March in the State of California that my colleague has 
spoken to, and we are terribly concerned about the teacher shortage and 
recruitment in these schools, next year in March they will be getting 
pink slips because of the Federal funding. If we kick over the 
continuing resolution until March of next year, those teachers will not 
have the certainty of whether or not this appropriation would be 
available. That happens, unfortunately, all too often in the Congress, 
and that is why I would hope that this would be a guaranteed 
entitlement program for the length of the program.
  Finally, that part of the problem could be solved if we would, in 
fact,

[[Page H6820]]

pass an education budget, if we would pass the education appropriations 
bill, but we will hear more about that on the topic of the continuing 
resolution tomorrow when it comes before this House where, once again, 
we will have to pass a continuing resolution because we have not been 
able to pass the appropriations bill because of the fight within the 
Republican Caucus dealing with the Education, Health and Human Services 
bill that has not been brought to the floor, although we were told in 
July it would be the first bill brought to the floor when we returned 
from our August break.
  Finally, let me just mention a portion of this bill. It is a rather 
small portion, but I think a terribly important portion in terms of a 
statement by this Congress, and a very humane statement by this 
Congress, and a compassionate statement of this Congress, and that is a 
provision that was added to this bill in committee by our colleague, 
the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy). She represents a 
district in New York that suffered a great many losses from individuals 
who were killed in the vicious attacks of September 11 on the World 
Trade Center in New York City. Many people in the district suffered 
losses of friends in the attack of the Pentagon and the downing of the 
plane in Pennsylvania.
  This legislation that was added to the bill is to provide for loan 
forgiveness to the families of firefighters, police officers and 
military personnel killed on September 11. The gentlewoman from New 
York (Mrs. McCarthy) fought for this legislation almost immediately 
after September 11, and it took a whole year. We tried to offer it 
numerous times on the floor of the House. It was not allowed to come 
up. We tried to offer it as amendments. It was not allowed to come up. 
We were given assurances early on that it would be considered on the 
floor of the House last year. That turned out to be a hollow promise. 
It did not happen.

                              {time}  1400

  Finally, this year the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner), our 
chairman, gave his word that the committee would address this 
legislation. His word was good. The deal stuck, and because of that 
guarantee by him and the tenacity and the doggedness of the gentlewoman 
from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) to make sure that this provision was 
brought to the Congress so the Congress would have a chance to vote on 
it so these families would get relief because of the economic setbacks 
that they suffered along with the tragedy they suffered of the loss of 
a member of their family in that tragedy, I simply want to recognize 
her for her effort.
  She was told so many times a lesser person might have gone away and 
figured out it could not be done. She continued to scheme and to 
persuade and to work on and to lobby Members of the House and the 
leadership and the rest to get this done, and I believe now today with 
the passage of this legislation she is going to realize the success 
that should have been hers many, many months ago and the benefits that 
will go to these families now; and I want to thank her, and I know 
Members of the committee want to thank her, for all of her effort on 
behalf of these families who suffer the tragedy of September 11.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentlewoman from 
New York (Mrs. McCarthy) to manage the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Boozman). Without objection, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) will manage the remainder of 
the time.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
South Carolina (Mr. Graham), the author of this very important bill.
  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me this 
time.
  About this committee, there is so much going on in America that is 
uncertain, with a potential military confrontation around the corner, a 
downturn in the economy, how to fix it. There is much to be debated on 
the floor of the House before we leave. The committee is operating in a 
fashion, the Committee on Education and the Workforce, that I am very 
proud of; and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner), chairman, and the 
gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller), ranking member, deserve 
much credit. Not enough is being said about how this committee has 
produced quality legislation to address real problems. There is no 
uncertainty about teacher recruitment. We are going to have to replace 
half of the teachers that exist today in the next decade. And how do we 
get quality teachers to fill in those slots?
  Most college students graduating from college, the biggest debt they 
face is a student loan. It is a good investment to get a college 
degree. I think it is a good investment for the taxpayers to help 
forgive those loans if those college graduates go into teaching into 
hard-to-recruit areas. And we are not just talking about putting bodies 
into classrooms; we are talking about quality. And what I like most 
about this bill is it does provide an incentive for people who graduate 
college to go into teaching in the hardest-to-recruit areas. Title I 
schools are usually urban and rural poor schools, a hard place to 
recruit. So if one will teach in one of those school systems for 5 
years, we will forgive their student loans in a mandatory fashion at 
$5,000 with this bill, up to $17,500 in discretionary money to be 
appropriated over time.
  I wish it had been mandatory too, but we are living in a world where 
there is a downturn in the economy and there is a war. I am confident 
that the money will be there for teachers in the years to come that 
will get a benefit of this program, but we want quality. They have to 
maintain their certification. Secondary teachers have to teach in the 
area that they are trained, math teachers teaching math, history 
teachers teaching history. Elementary education teachers have to be 
certified to be competent. So we marry up the need for quality and the 
problem of recruiting in the poor urban and rural schools by putting 
some money on the table, $17,500, to be earned for 5 years of service 
in those schools.
  What does it mean to America? CBO says it will result at a minimum of 
35,000 new teachers coming into the profession. I think that is 
something to be proud of. The cost of the bill is very manageable. It 
is over a 5-year period, 300-and-something million dollars, which is a 
lot of money; but if we can get 35,000 new teachers with quality into 
hard-to-recruit areas, I think we all can tell the taxpayers that is a 
good deal because to get the money, they have got to earn it, they have 
got to work for 5 years; and I think that is a good deal for everybody 
involved.
  I appreciate what the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller) 
has done to make sure this passed in a bipartisan fashion. And the part 
of the bill that he mentioned about the gentlewoman from New York's 
(Mrs. McCarthy) provision about survivors, family members of those 
people who lost their lives in 9-11, it is small. It is an asterisk in 
terms of funding. It is not going to cost that much, but the impact it 
will have is huge; and I want to congratulate her for what she has done 
to help those families in a very significant way.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as 
I may consume.
  Before I begin my statement, I would like to take a moment to 
remember a great colleague and friend in the Committee on Education and 
the Workforce, the gentlewoman from Hawaii. She will be greatly missed 
and always remembered for her compassion and dedication to the people 
of Hawaii.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 5091, the CLASS 
Act. Under this bill, special education teachers and math and science 
teachers who have served in a high-poverty school for 5 years are 
eligible for having up to $17,500 in student loans forgiven.
  Giving relief to the men and women who teach children in America 
really is homeland security, and I hope this is the first step to 
forgiving the loans for all teachers who work in underserved schools.
  Madam Speaker, I would like also to take this opportunity to 
personally thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner), the gentleman 
from California (Mr. George Miller), the gentleman from California (Mr. 
McKeon), and my colleagues for working with us on this, including my 
language to forgive student loans for the spouses of

[[Page H6821]]

emergency personnel affected by the September 11 attacks.
  Unfortunately, due to the tragic events of September 11, many spouses 
who lost loved ones in the attacks are enduring financial hardships. 
Charitable organizations have offered some assistance, but the Federal 
Government must also play a role. That is why I fought so hard to get 
these loans forgiven. Currently, individuals who die have their loans 
forgiven, but that is not the case for the spouses who have relied upon 
the income of their lost loved ones to pay the loans.
  This legislation authorizes the Secretary of Education to discharge 
or cancel Federal student loans for the spouses. This relief is only 
for the spouses of policemen, firemen, emergency personnel, and members 
of the Armed Forces who died or became permanently disabled in the line 
of duty on 9-11. Relieving a student loan expense helps financially 
strained spouses provide for their children as well as themselves 
during this difficult time. This is a very low-cost, tailored provision 
that will help the families of our bravest men and women who perished a 
year ago last month.
  I thank again the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner) and the gentleman 
from California (Mr. George Miller) for their teamwork on this 
legislation. I know it has been a tough time getting here, but we all 
did pull together and we all did work together to get this done because 
our committee did know this was the right thing to do; and I appreciate 
all the help that everyone on the other side of the aisle gave me for 
this.
  I urge all of my colleagues to join me in my support of this very 
important legislation, and I ask all my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on 
this bill.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McKEON. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
full committee chairman, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner).
  Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California 
(Mr. McKeon) for yielding me this time.
  Before I talk about the bill that we have on the floor today, let me 
pay tribute to a colleague and friend, Patsy Mink. It is my 
understanding the House will consider and adopt a formal resolution 
this week honoring her service to our country, and I am pleased that we 
will have that opportunity to pay tribute to her in that fashion.
  Patsy was a vibrant, passionate, and effective voice for the 
principles that she believed in. She was a true leader on our 
committee, and I am deeply saddened by the news of her passing. As 
chairman of the committee over the last 2 years, we worked together on 
the historic No Child Left Behind Act, as well as bipartisan 
legislation to improve access to higher education for our Nation's 
youth. Patsy fought tirelessly for the causes she supported, and I 
think we are all grateful for her long record of public service. Her 
passing is a significant loss for our committee, the people of Hawaii, 
and the people of the United States. And I offer my sincerest 
condolences to her family and her constituents. She will be greatly 
missed.
  Madam Speaker, today I rise in support of H.R. 5091, the Canceling 
Loans to Allow School Systems to Attract Classroom Teachers Act, or as 
we call it the CLASS Act, and I want to applaud the gentleman from 
South Carolina (Mr. Graham), my friend and colleague, for his 
commitment to the education of our Nation's children and for sponsoring 
the legislation that we have before us today. This bill provides an 
important opportunity for high-need schools and school districts to 
recruit and retain highly qualified and committed teachers, and we are 
asking a lot of our Nation's teachers and they deserve our full 
support.
  The No Child Left Behind Act calls for States to have a qualified 
teacher in every public classroom by the end of the 2005-2006 school 
year. With large numbers of teachers retiring over the next 10 years, 
estimates are that more than 2 million teachers will be needed to fill 
these vacancies, and that will be no easy task. Demand for high-quality 
teachers has never been higher, but in some cases unqualified teachers 
are being hired to fill these open vacancies.
  This bill, I think, will help solve that problem. It provides an 
increase in the total amount of loan forgiveness for teachers now 
provided in the Higher Education Act from a maximum of $5,000 to a new 
level of $17,500. This bill also places a priority for providing loan 
forgiveness to those teachers teaching special education, mathematics, 
science, or those teaching in schools that are failing to adequately 
recruit highly qualified teachers as required by No Child Left Behind. 
This loan forgiveness is provided to teachers who teach for 5 
consecutive years at a title I school, and as my colleagues know, these 
schools serve a high concentration of students from low-income 
families.
  As a result of President Bush's involvement in No Child Left Behind, 
Federal funding for teacher programs is being increased by 38.1 
percent, or $787 million, this year to help States train, recruit and 
retain quality teachers. This historical level of support for teachers 
is maintained in the President's fiscal year 2003 budget and the budget 
resolution passed this spring by the House. This bill continues the 
commitment that we have shown in supporting quality teachers for all of 
our Nation's children.
  We have all had that one special teacher who had an impact on our 
lives, that one teacher who has helped us find the success and 
direction that we now enjoy. And this bill will help make it possible 
for all children to have that qualified and caring teacher who will 
have a positive impact on their lives.
  The new realities of a wartime budget and economic recovery now 
require us to exercise fiscal discipline and responsibility; and to 
meet this important responsibility, we have crafted this program as a 
discretionary, rather than mandatory, program. At this time, budgetary 
offsets necessary to make this a mandatory spending program have not 
been found. However, we think it is vitally important to get the 
program authorized, and then we will work with our appropriators and 
our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to fund this program in a 
responsible, bipartisan way.
  In addition, H.R. 5091 contains a provision authored by my good 
friend and colleague, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy), 
that would forgive the student loans of the spouses of fire, police, 
military, and rescue personnel who were victims of the September 11, 
2001, tragedy. We can never fully repay the debt we owe these families, 
but I believe this provision can help bring a small element of healing 
to the families of those heroes.
  Finally, I want to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. George 
Miller), the ranking member of our committee, for his help in pushing 
this bill through and dealing with the gentlewoman from New York's 
(Mrs. McCarthy) provision as well.
  This bill exemplifies the commitment that this Congress has shown to 
education, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this important 
bill for our Nation's teachers.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may 
consume to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind), my colleague who 
sits on our committee.
  Mr. KIND. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. 
McCarthy) for yielding me this time.
  Madam speaker, I want to preface my remarks by stating that today is 
truly a sad day in the House of Representatives for the people of the 
second district of Hawaii, for the people of the Nation who may not 
have seen or appreciated the fine work that Patsy Mink did in 
representing her constituents in Hawaii. In all my years of public 
service, Madam Speaker, I never met anyone with a deeper commitment and 
passion for serving her constituents than Patsy Mink. I believe she was 
the first woman of color to be elected to the United States Congress, 
and I have had the pleasure of serving with her for three terms now on 
the Committee on Education and the Workforce.
  The depth of knowledge that she brought to the committee on issues of 
education, her fight to ensure that quality of education was a reality 
for native Hawaiian children was unrivaled; and we will miss her 
guidance and her leadership and her expertise in these areas. Most of 
all, we will miss her for what she was, and that

[[Page H6822]]

was a dynamic personality with unlimited energy and compassion for the 
issues she felt so deeply about. I hope that the people will in the 
next week take a little time to read a little bit about Patsy Mink, the 
stories being written, to better understand her contribution for our 
great democracy and for the people of the second district in Hawaii.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5091, the CLASS Act. I think 
this is an important piece of legislation to be able to attract young, 
qualified teachers into at-risk school districts where recruitment has 
proven difficult, where retention of quality teachers in the classroom 
has proven to be a great challenge.

                              {time}  1415

  We know that the second most important determinative of how well a 
child is going to succeed in school is the quality of the teacher in 
front of them in the classroom. That is why this legislation is long 
overdue. We had some differences of opinion in the committee in regards 
to whether this should be a mandatory program as opposed to a 
discretionary program. I would hope that even though we went the 
discretionary route, effort would still be given to try to find offsets 
to make this a mandatory program. I think it is important to be able to 
offer this type of incentive for young, qualified teachers to enter 
very difficult school districts and to serve children in need.
  Madam Speaker, I also want to commend the gentlewoman from New York 
(Mrs. McCarthy) for her passion in being able to bring loan forgiveness 
to the victims of September 11. She was there from the very beginning, 
advocating the importance of doing this. It is a token gesture, but I 
think an important gesture for those families that carry student loan 
debts that those be forgiven in recognition of the events of September 
11.
  I also thank the leadership on the committee for accepting my 
amendment, which is a notification requirement to rural school 
districts so they too will recognize the existence of this program and 
will better understand how they can qualify and apply for loan 
forgiveness. Oftentimes rural school districts are understaffed, 
underfinanced, and do not have professional grant writers to really 
take advantage of the various educational programs that exist at the 
Federal level.
  This notification requirement is a small way to help get word out to 
school districts throughout the country that this is available and 
another tool of recruitment for rural school districts that are facing 
very difficult challenges in attracting young, qualified bright minds 
into the school system.
  Many of my school districts in western Wisconsin have a difficult 
time finding any AP teachers to teach high school classes. If it were 
not for certain online opportunities, many of the students would have 
to go without because of the shortage and great demand for teachers. 
Hopefully with this notification requirement, more rural school 
districts will realize the availability of the program and the 
additional tool that they can now use to attract young teachers into 
the classroom.
  Mr. McKEON. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I associate myself with the remarks of the gentleman 
from Ohio (Mr. Boehner), the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind), and 
the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) regarding Mrs. Mink. The 
gentlewoman will be missed by all of us, but I will especially miss her 
because for the last 2 years she has been the ranking member on this 
subcommittee, and we have had the opportunity of getting to go know 
each other and working well together. I will miss her greatly.
  Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. 
Isakson).
  Mr. ISAKSON. Madam Speaker, I want to add my expression of sympathy 
to the family of Patsy Mink and to the citizens of Hawaii and recommend 
Members read an editorial that I read on the plane today about the 
contributions of her life, in particular in the field of politics and 
the law where she broke the glass ceiling for women in an era and a 
period where that ceiling was very low. She was an outstanding 
colleague and an outstanding individual, and she shall be missed.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Graham) 
for his contribution to improving the education of America's most needy 
and in-need students. With the addition of the CLASS Act and the 
incentive to attract teachers to our title I schools in rural and urban 
poor centers, what the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Graham) has 
done is he has the second one-two punch to what this Congress and this 
President has done to really focus on where educational needs are the 
greatest.
  If we combine the ability to attract teachers through loan 
forgiveness, to make the commitment to our children who are the most in 
need, with the investment this Congress made last year in No Child Left 
Behind in our title I schools, we will find the two greatest 
contributions, in my opinion, ever by the Congress of the United States 
in terms of truly meeting the needs we will have in the 21st century to 
be sure that opportunity is available to every child and that no child 
is left behind.
  On a side note, I want to commend the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. 
Boehner) and the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy), who is one 
of the sweetest people in the whole world. Her amendment and the Kind 
amendment being in this bill recognize and represent what the gentleman 
from Ohio (Mr. Boehner) has done, and that is pull together bipartisan 
ideas to improve the education of America's children, to join them 
together and bring them to the floor of this Congress, and take them to 
the President for his signature and enact them into law for our 
children.
  I commend the chairman for his leadership, the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Kind) and the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) 
for their amendments, and I acknowledge the gentleman from South 
Carolina (Mr. Graham), who in this Congress is making a most 
significant investment in the improvement of the lives of our most 
needy children.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as 
I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, number one, I would like to say that working on the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce has been truly a wonderful 
experience. To me it is a committee that actually has worked very well 
bipartisanly to get things done. I appreciate that. Sometimes I wish 
other committees could look at how our committee works to get things 
done so we can sign legislation into law. I also would like to thank 
the staff for all of the hard work they put in. A lot of people do not 
realize how much work the staff does to make this legislation come 
through.
  The gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Graham), he and I will be 
working very hard to make sure that this legislation now moves in the 
Senate to get signed by the President. Madam Speaker, today we are 
talking about the next step about providing needy relief to the victims 
of September 11. It is my hope that the other body will move quickly to 
pass this important legislation so we can send this bill to the 
President for his signature.
  Madam Speaker, I commend my colleagues, especially the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Boehner) and the gentleman from California (Mr. George 
Miller), who have spoken in favor of this bill; and I urge Members to 
vote in favor of this legislation, H.R. 5091.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Biggert). Members are reminded that 
they should avoid urging action by the Senate.
  Mr. HOLT. Madam Speaker, we have a responsibility to them to ensure 
that every public school and every teacher is able to help all of our 
school children reach their full potential.
  Over 35 years ago, Congress passed the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act to help improve our public schools. With its main focus 
on improving the educational opportunities for disadvantaged children, 
ESEA established bold new goals for schools to prepare children, no 
matter what their background, to succeed in this world by mastering the 
basics and reaching high standards of achievement.
  Our schools are facing new and different challenges. We have an 
increasingly diverse and growing student population. We are facing

[[Page H6823]]

a massive teacher shortage. In fact, over the next ten years, we will 
need to recruit and hire 2.2 million teachers just to keep up with the 
attrition of our teaching force.
  We made great stride toward meeting these challenges with the passage 
of H.R. 1. Today we have opportunity to go further buy encouraging 
student to go into the important field of teaching through loan 
forgiveness. The loan forgiveness program--which began in 1998 and 
provides up to $5,000 in student loan relief--helps ensure that 
disadvantaged students are taught by high quality professionals. This 
program must be extended to reflect the true cost of college.
  This bill will increase loan forgiveness to $17,500 for Special 
Education, Math and Science teachers. I am pleased the majority 
accepted my amendment to add Math and Science teachers as a priority to 
the bill.
  Forty-three percent of math teachers in high poverty schools have 
neither majored nor minored in math related fields, compared to 27 in 
low poverty school. Over the next 10 years, large numbers of teachers 
will retire, leaving American classrooms with a serious teacher 
shortage, especially rural and inner city schools that already face 
one. By encouraging students to become math, science and special 
education teachers we can address this inequity.
  As recent reports by the National Assessment Education Progress 
(NAEP) on November 21, 2001 and the Organization for Economic Co-
operation and Development (OECD) on December 4, 2001 have indicated, 
American students are severely under-performing in math and science. 
According to the NAEP study, 82 per cent of high school seniors were 
less than proficient in science last year, while OECD reports that only 
four out of the 28 countries OECD tested performed worse than American 
students in science and five in math.
  Given new challenges to our homeland defense, I think it should be 
obvious that having weak math and science education is not in our 
national interest. If we given short shrift to math and science 
education, how will future generations of Americans develop the 
vaccines to fight biological terror or the defense technology to track 
down and eliminate terrorists and other threats?
  While this bill does not provide mandatory funding for teacher loan 
forgiveness, as I would have preferred it is a step in the right 
direction and I ask my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. MOORE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to express my strong support 
for H.R. 5091, the Canceling Loans to Allow School Systems to Attract 
Classroom Teachers Act, and I encourage my colleagues to support this 
important legislation.
  I have long recognized the great need for teacher loan forgiveness to 
help our local school districts address the nationwide teacher 
shortage. Urban, rural and suburban districts are all struggling with 
this problem caused by a combination of demographic trends and a low 
teacher retention rate.
  Under current law, teachers can receive up to $5,000 in loan 
forgiveness after five years of service. H.R. 5091 would expand the 
program to forgive up to $17,500 in loans and give priority to special 
education teachers.
  Although I am a strong supporter of this legislation, I believe that 
it could be greatly improved. I introduced a bill on February 14, 2001, 
that I believe would go much farther in addressing our national teacher 
shortage. H.R. 687, the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Act, would 
forgive up to $10,000, over five years, for any newly qualified 
educator who: teaches in a low-income school, teaches special 
education, or teaches in a designated teacher shortage area.
  I believe that offering loan forgiveness in the first year of 
teaching, as I have provided for in H.R. 687, would do more to 
encourage young teachers to stay in the profession. Also, loan 
forgiveness needs to be extended far beyond special education teachers. 
local school districts also struggle when hiring math, science and 
foreign language teachers.
  I am glad that my colleagues have recognized our national teacher 
shortage as a national priority worthy of Federal investment. I believe 
that it is time for the Federal government to assist States and local 
school districts in attracting and keeping qualified teachers, and I am 
happy to offer my support for this legislation, which represents an 
important first step.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of H.R. 5091, 
the Cancelling Loans to Allow School Systems to Attract Classroom 
Teachers Act. This act would increase the amount of student loan 
forgiveness available to qualified teachers. Loan cancellations would 
be made on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to the 
availability of appropriations, and with emphasis on special education, 
mathematics and science teachers.
  I believe this legislation is solid and it is necessary legislation. 
As we are aware, across this Nation, States and Territories struggle to 
retain and attract teachers. Our school systems are overcrowded. Our 
test scores are down, and our resources are limited. Many of our 
students are also disadvantaged by poverty and live in communities that 
are unable to raise revenue to meet the growing challenge of elevating 
learning.
  As lawmakers, we are painfully aware that we must provide adequate 
funding for education if we are to maintain cohesion in our society. As 
lawmakers, we also agree that no child should be left behind. This is 
why we are disappointed that President Bush signed legislation 
promising a $5.65 billion increase in the No Child Left Behind 
legislation, but 4 weeks later provided an increase of only $1 billion. 
We are also disappointed that the President's budget holds aid to local 
schools virtually flat.
  Lie every other State and Territory, American Samoa depends on 
Federal assistance to improve classroom learning. We struggle to 
recruit, certify, and retain teachers. Yet we also want to ensure that 
our children are not left behind.
  Passage of H.R. 5091 is a small step in the right direction. It will 
help alleviate some of the National and local problems we all face. For 
American Samoa, it will help us bring back and retain some of our own 
teachers. I support this legislation and I ask my colleagues to also 
support passage of H.R. 5091.
  Mr. McKEON. Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. McKeon) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 5091, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to increase 
the amount of student loan forgiveness available to qualified teachers, 
and for other purposes.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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