[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 161 (Tuesday, October 23, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H11885-H11886]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1415
              THIRD HIGHER EDUCATION EXTENSION ACT OF 2007

  Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 3927) to temporarily extend the programs under the Higher 
Education Act of 1965, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3927

       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 ``Third Higher Education 
     Extension Act of 2007''.

     SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF PROGRAMS.

       Section 2(a) of the Higher Education Extension Act of 2005 
     (Public Law 109-81; 20 U.S.C. 1001 note) is amended by 
     striking ``October 31, 2007'' and inserting ``April 30, 
     2008''.

     SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

       Nothing in this Act, or in the Higher Education Extension 
     Act of 2005 as amended by this Act, shall be construed to 
     limit or otherwise alter the authorizations of appropriations 
     for, or the durations of, programs contained in the 
     amendments made by the Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 
     2005 (Public Law 109-171) and the College Cost Reduction and 
     Access Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-84) to the provisions of the 
     Higher Education Act of 1965 and the Taxpayer-Teacher 
     Protection Act of 2004.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Hinojosa) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Keller) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.


                             General Leave

  Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3927, a bill to extend 
the Higher Education Act through April 30, 2008. This bill is very 
straightforward. It simply extends the current programs authorized 
under the Higher Education Act until April 30, 2008, giving us the time 
to fully consider and complete the reauthorization.
  Mr. Speaker, we are making progress. With bipartisan support and the 
President's signature, we are making a historic investment in student 
financial aid in the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. We have 
also laid the groundwork to reauthorize the other core higher education 
programs, including teacher preparation, developing and strengthening 
institutions, college readiness and outreach programs, international 
education programs, graduate education, and many others.

[[Page H11886]]

  The Higher Education Act was due to be reauthorized during the 108th 
Congress. It was not completed. The 109th Congress also failed to 
reauthorize this act. Given the length of time that has elapsed between 
when the Higher Education Act should have been reauthorized and today, 
we believed that it was critical that the 110th Congress and the 
stakeholders in the higher education community take a fresh look at the 
law and the recommendations to improve it.
  We have held a series of congressional hearings covering the core 
issues of access, affordability, college preparation, teacher 
preparation, and institutional capacity. We put out a call for 
recommendations and received over 85 responses from individuals and 
organizations from across the Nation. I am looking forward to working 
with all my colleagues to produce a strong reauthorization that will 
earn broad support.
  Mr. Speaker, I would also like to thank Congressman McKeon, the 
ranking member of the full committee. I would like to thank Congressman 
Ric Keller, the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Higher Education, 
Lifelong Learning and Competitiveness. Also, I wish to thank Chairman 
George Miller for working together with all of us to expedite this 
extension. I urge all my colleagues to support this legislation, H.R. 
3927.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. KELLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3927, a measure to extend 
programs under the Higher Education Act, which are set to expire at the 
end of this month, for an additional 6 months. This is a clean 
extension. This will simply change the date required to reauthorize 
this law from October 31, 2007, until April 30, 2008. I thank my 
committee colleagues, Chairman Miller, Chairman Hinojosa, and Ranking 
Member McKeon, for their work on this bill, as well as their consistent 
efforts on behalf of our Nation's college students and their families.
  Mr. Speaker, while I support the extension of the Higher Education 
Act, I also believe that we need to get on with it at this point and 
reauthorize this important law. The last time this law was authorized 
was when President Bill Clinton was in office back in 1998, and it 
expired in 2004.
  We need to work in a bipartisan way to finally reauthorize the Higher 
Education Act. Republicans on the House Education Committee recently 
took a positive step in this direction by introducing H.R. 3746, The 
College Access and Opportunity Act of 2007. This bill is an updated 
version of H.R. 609, the Higher Education reauthorization bill that 
passed the House last Congress but was not taken up by the Senate. H.R. 
3746 would strengthen the Pell Grant program by providing for year-
round Pell Grants, and it would address college affordability by 
providing transparency in college costs, among other things.
  I hope that we will move forward with the Higher Education Act 
reauthorization in a bipartisan and thoughtful manner. I look forward 
to working with Ranking Member McKeon and Chairmen Miller and Hinojosa 
and all of my colleagues on the Education and Labor Committee in 
completing our work in the coming months. In the meantime, however, I 
urge my colleagues to join with me in supporting this extension.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Speaker, as my colleague Ric Keller pointed out, 
the last reauthorization took place back in 1998. If we are able to get 
it done this year, it will have been almost 10 since that 
reauthorization. For me, having served 11 years in Congress, I have had 
quite a learning curve. I have learned the importance by listening to 
presidents and chancellors of many of the institutions of higher 
learning and realize the importance of us getting this job done this 
session.
  Mr. Speaker, it is extremely important because we are trying to raise 
the number of students who will be college ready. We must have programs 
that are going to fill the need that we have in our country for 
teachers, for scientists, for mathematicians, for all of the different 
fields that are necessary for our country to enjoy its prosperity.
  I am working hard with my colleague Ric Keller so that the Higher 
Education Act is completed on a timely basis, and one that is going to 
serve us for the next 6 years.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time and would like to ask the 
gentleman from Florida if he has some other speakers.
  Mr. KELLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers and I am 
prepared to close at this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I just want to urge all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' 
on H.R. 3927. We believe that a college education opportunity is the 
passport out of poverty for so many worthy young people. I urge my 
colleagues to support this extension and then later to work together in 
a bipartisan manner to reauthorize the Higher Education Act.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hinojosa) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 3927.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being 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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