[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 134 (Thursday, December 7, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H8917-H8919]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               TRUMAN SCHOLARSHIP FUND MODERNIZATION ACT

  Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 6206) to revise the calculation of interest on 
investments of the Harry S. Truman Memorial Scholarship Fund.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 6206

       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 ``Truman Scholarship Fund 
     Modernization Act''.

     SEC. 2. REVISION OF INVESTMENT PROCEDURE.

       Section 10 of the Harry S Truman Memorial Scholarship Act 
     (20 U.S.C. 2009) is amended--
       (1) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following:
       ``(b) Investment of Amounts Appropriated.--
       ``(1) At the request of the Board, it shall be the duty of 
     the Secretary of the Treasury to invest in full the amounts 
     appropriated and contributed to the fund. Such investments 
     may be made only in the interest-bearing obligations of the 
     United States issued directly to the fund.
       ``(2) The purposes for which obligations of the United 
     States may be issued under chapter 31 of title 31 are hereby 
     extended to authorize the issuance at par of special 
     obligations directly to the fund. Such special obligations 
     shall bear interest at a rate equal to the average rate of 
     interest, computed as to the end of the calendar month next 
     preceding the date of such issue, borne by all marketable 
     interest-bearing obligations of the United States then 
     forming a part of the public debt; except that where such 
     average rate is not a multiple of one-eighth of 1 per centum, 
     the rate of interest of such special obligations shall be the 
     multiple of one-eighth of 1 per centum next lower than such 
     average rate. All requests of the Board to the Secretary of 
     the Treasury provided for in this section shall be binding 
     upon the Secretary.''; and
       (2) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the following:

[[Page H8918]]

       ``(c) Sale of Obligations Acquired by Fund.--At the request 
     of the Board, the Secretary of the Treasury shall redeem any 
     obligation issued directly to the fund. Obligations issued to 
     the fund under subsection (b)(2) shall be redeemed at par 
     plus accrued interest. Any other obligations issued directly 
     to the fund shall be redeemed at the market price.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Kuhl) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Bishop) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York (Mr. Kuhl).


                             General Leave

  Mr. KUHL of New York. 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. 6206.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I rise in support of H.R. 6206, a bill to revise the calculation of 
interest on investments in the Harry S. Truman Memorial Scholarship 
Fund.
  The Harry S. Truman Memorial Scholarship Fund was signed into law by 
President Ford in 1974, created with the purpose of awarding 
scholarships to college juniors who, and I quote, ``demonstrate 
outstanding potential for and who plan to pursue a career in public 
service.''
  The foundation provides for at least 53 scholarships, and includes at 
least one for each State, each year, to deserving young people. The 
purpose of this measure before us is to align the foundation with other 
similar scholarship foundations.
  Under current law, the Secretary of the Treasury is required to 
invest the foundation's trust fund solely, and I repeat, solely, in 
U.S. Treasury securities unless the Secretary explicitly chooses to 
invest in other obligations. Because of this restrictive policy, the 
scholarship funds have not been able to keep pace with the rapid 
increases in college tuition.
  Specifically, H.R. 6206, would shift the authority for making the 
investment decisions in the Par Value Special Treasury Obligations to 
the foundation's board of trustees. The Par Value Special Treasury 
Obligations have a slightly higher interest rate than the current yield 
on the 10-year Treasury note. In addition, these special obligations 
may be bought and sold without penalty, a feature that would provide 
the foundation with much needed flexibility in its investments.
  Both the James Madison Memorial Scholarship Foundation and the John 
C. Stennis Center for Public Service Training and Development currently 
have this authority already. This measure simply gives the Harry S. 
Truman Memorial Scholarship Fund, the sole memorial to President 
Truman, the same authority.
  Mr. Speaker, as college tuition continues to skyrocket, we must 
continue every opportunity to create scholarships that have the tools 
necessary to continue to attract students to serve in the areas of 
public service. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6206.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BISHOP of New York. Mr. Speaker, I, too, rise in support of H.R. 
6206, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  The Harry S. Truman Memorial Scholarship Fund provides an essential 
service to students in our country. By awarding graduate students 
scholarships in the fields of public service, they not only help to 
make higher education more affordable, but encourage students to give 
back to their country with service. The fund was founded nearly 30 
years ago, and continues to serve as a living memorial to President 
Truman and his service to this country.
  The scholarship foundation awards approximately 75 scholarships each 
year to students pursuing careers in public service. After leaving 
graduate school, students must serve at least 3 years in public service 
employment, including teaching, government service, or public interest 
organizations. In 2004, the foundation awarded 77 scholarships to 
students from 67 universities and colleges. Additionally, 52 percent of 
the scholars were women, and 32 percent were of African, Hispanic, 
Asian, or Native American heritage.
  Mr. Speaker, as you know, college affordability is a serious concern 
for students and families in this country. Tuition at 4-year public 
colleges has increased by 35 percent in the last 5 years, higher than 
at any other 5-year period in the last 30 years.

                              {time}  1300

  Additionally, recent estimates show that the debt burden from paying 
for college has priced students out of public service careers. These 
estimates show that 23 percent of 4-year college students graduate with 
too much debt to manageably repay with a starting teacher's salary.
  Meanwhile, public investment in higher education is waning and we are 
expecting students to bear more of the burden of paying for college. 
Students are now taking out more loans than grants to finance college. 
This is especially true for graduate students; only 28 percent of 
graduate school financing is grant aid.
  Scholarship funds such as the Truman Memorial fund help to limit the 
reliance on loans and the growing debt burden of students. Since its 
inception in 1977, the Truman Memorial fund has given scholarships to 
2,480 students of public service from States and schools across the 
Nation.
  Some notable graduates include Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, 
David Atkins, vice chancellor of the University of Kansas Medical 
Center, and Margot Rogers, senior executive with the Gates Foundation 
working on elementary and secondary education issues.
  Mr. Speaker, this legislation will help the Truman Foundation 
continue to serve students and our country by allowing them additional 
financial flexibility and autonomy, which will allow the foundation to 
continue to award substantial scholarships to students and will 
continue the living memory of President Truman.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. KUHL of New York. I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. English).
  Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of 
H.R. 6206, the Truman Scholarship Fund Modernization Act. It closes an 
important loophole in our existing law.
  First, I want to thank all of us who helped us get this bill to the 
floor today: Chairman McKeon and the Education and the Workforce 
Committee, Representatives Boehner and Blunt, and all of their staffs.
  This bill would simply allow the board of trustees of the Harry S. 
Truman Scholarship Foundation, instead of the Secretary of the 
Treasury, to choose the type of interest that would be received as a 
yield on the bonds issued by the Truman fund.
  Other established and highly accreditable programs have already had 
this minor change in their discretion; for example, the James Madison 
Memorial Fellowship Foundation and the John C. Stennis Center for 
Public Service Training and Development.
  This foundation, the Harry S. Truman Foundation, is a living memorial 
to our 33rd President. And it has also become an emblematic program of 
promoting young people to encourage them to be educated for citizenship 
and political responsibility and to assume the mantle of leadership in 
our political process.
  Every year hundreds of college juniors compete for what amounts to 
approximately 80 awards. The rigorous selection process requires the 
candidates have a strong record of public service as well as a policy 
proposal that addresses a particular issue facing society. These 
individuals are among our Nation's best and brightest, and many of them 
have gone on to provide real leadership within our government and 
within our institutions.
  I am a strong supporter of this program, a program that assists in 
education as a lifelong learning process.
  Scholars who participate in this program are invited to participate 
in a number of programs, including the Truman Scholar Leadership Week, 
The Summer Institute, The Truman Fellows Program, and the Public 
Service Law Conference.
  This program has been an extraordinary success, and this bill 
provides it

[[Page H8919]]

greater flexibility in generating the one source of revenue it has. We 
think that this program is very important. We think that this change is 
essential. We think that this is an important commitment for this 
Congress to make to cultivate the leadership of the future in public 
service.
  I salute the gentleman for leading this effort to pass this bill on 
the floor. I am privileged to have introduced it with the idea that 
this one small change can do a great deal to promote greater leadership 
not only in this institution but throughout our political process and 
throughout our governmental and nongovernmental institutions.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.
  Mr. BISHOP of New York. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from Missouri (Mr. Akin).
  Mr. AKIN. Mr. Speaker, I am one of the two Congressmen who serves on 
the board of this Truman Scholarship fund. As has been explained here 
today, it is a very good use of money to help students obtain these 
different scholarships, to prepare them for work in public service.
  The problem is that the principal cannot be invested in a very 
flexible kind of way. That is why this is a modernization act, to allow 
us to use those funds. I think it is completely noncontroversial. I 
serve with a Member of the other party on that board. Everybody, as far 
as I know, is in agreement that this modernization needs to take place. 
It is going to result in more money for scholarships, and people will 
be better prepared for public service. It seems like everybody wins, 
and so I am a strong supporter. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 
6206.
  Mr. BISHOP of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional requests for 
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Shimkus). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Kuhl) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 6206.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds of those voting having 
responded in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the bill was 
passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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