[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 20 (Thursday, February 7, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H641-H645]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           COLLEGE OPPORTUNITY AND AFFORDABILITY ACT OF 2007

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 956 and rule 
XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House 
on the state of the Union for the consideration of the bill, H.R. 4137.

                              {time}  1225


                     In the Committee of the Whole

  Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the 
Whole House on the state of the Union for the consideration of the bill 
(H.R. 4137) to amend and extend the Higher Education Act of 1965, and 
for other purposes, with Mr. Pastor in the chair.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered read the 
first time.
  The gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller) and the gentleman 
from California (Mr. McKeon) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. George 
Miller).
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 5 
minutes.
  Mr. Chairman and Members of the House, I rise in strong support of 
H.R. 4137, the College Opportunity and Affordability Act, which was 
reported by the Committee on Education and Labor with unanimous 
bipartisan support. This legislation strengthens and reauthorizes our 
Nation's higher education program.
  With our recent enactment of the College Cost Reduction and Access 
Act, this Congress has already taken a historic step by providing the 
single largest increase in Federal student aid since the GI bill.
  But we all know that there's still work to do to ensure that the 
doors of college are truly open to call qualified students. H.R. 4137 
helps us reach this goal.
  Today's students and families face a number of challenges on the path 
to college, from skyrocketing college prices, to needlessly complicated 
student aid application process, to predatory tactics by student 
lenders.
  The College Opportunity and Affordability Act will address these 
challenges by reshaping our higher education system so that, once 
again, it operates in the best interest of students and families.
  The bill will create a higher education system that is more 
affordable and fair and easier to navigate for consumers.

[[Page H642]]

  For years, prices have been skyrocketing at colleges and universities 
around the country, and we can all agree that the increase in college 
aid was vital. But there's no question we must also begin to address 
these rising tuition prices.
  This legislation would create a new user-friendly Web site for 
families with helpful information on college pricing and the factors 
driving tuition increases.
  The Web site would also publish lists of the most expensive schools, 
the least expensive schools, and schools with the largest percentage 
increase in tuition prices. Colleges with the largest increases in 
tuition prices would be required to report their reasons for these 
price hikes and to create a task force to examine how they can work to 
keep their prices lower.
  The bill would also ensure the States would hold up their end of the 
bargaining by providing higher education, by establishing State 
maintenance-of-effort requirements. We cannot just keep putting in 
Federal taxpayer dollars at the top and having States take money out of 
the bottom.
  The bill would restore trust and accountability to the student loan 
program. It would also provide students and families with better 
protections when it comes to the often murky world of college loans.
  The protections for students and parent borrowers in our bill form a 
bill of rights for college consumers, including fair disclosure loan 
terms to borrowers of Federal and private loans.
  In addition, the bill would simplify the Federal student aid 
application process and provide families with extra time to plan for 
their college expenses.
  The bill would also:
  Make the Pell Grant scholarship available year round for the first 
time and would increase the authorization for that program;
  Strengthen the TRIO and GEAR UP college readiness and support 
programs that are helping so many students discover that they not only 
can attend college, they can succeed in college and graduate;
  Expand the funding for graduate programs at the Historically Black 
Colleges and Universities and Hispanic-serving Institutions and 
minority serving schools;
  Increase college aid and support programs for veterans and our men 
and women in uniform;
  To ensure equal opportunities and a fair learning environment for 
students with disabilities;
  And to make our college campuses safer. The bill does all of that, 
and it's an important change in the higher education responsibilities 
of the Federal Government and in the support for our higher education 
institutions and in our partnership with the States.

                              {time}  1230

  It has been a long time for this bill to come to the floor. It has 
been 10 years since we reauthorized this Act. And in recognizing that 
long time, I want to certainly point out the contributions made by 
Congressman Buck McKeon, the senior Republican on this committee; Ruben 
Hinojosa and Ric Keller of the subcommittee; and the Chairs and ranking 
members of the Higher Education Committee.
  But I just want to say that much of this bill reflects a lot of work 
that was done by Mr. Keller, by Mr. McKeon. Certainly the provisions 
dealing with college costs reflect an awful lot of work that was done 
by Mr. McKeon when he was in the majority on the subcommittee and the 
full committee by Mr. Tierney, on our side of the committee, to bring 
this to fruition so finally we can start to not only make greater 
contributions in terms of assistance to families, but also help 
institutions rein in these costs, discuss these costs with parents and 
students so that they can make smart choices.
  I would also like to thank my committee staff for helping us craft a 
strong bill, including Denise Forte, Stephanie Moore, Gaby Gomez, Julie 
Radocchia, Jeff Appel, Sharon Lewis, Julia Martin, and Rachel Racusen.
  I would also like to thank the many students across the country whose 
voices have been so helpful in helping us to understand the changes 
that needed to be made and also to voice support for this legislation 
and are a very important part of this process.
  I think the entire House can be proud of this legislation, and I 
think it will help us build a better future for our students and for 
our economy and for our country, both in terms of our economic security 
and our national security. And I think it will help fulfill the vision 
that all American families have for the members of their family to be 
able to participate in a higher education, to graduate and to pursue 
their hopes and aspirations, in making full contributions.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the College Opportunity and 
Affordability Act, and I want to begin by thanking Chairman Miller 
along with Representatives Hinojosa and Keller, the chairman and 
ranking member of the subcommittee, for their efforts. Representative 
Castle has also been a close partner of mine in an effort to rein in 
college costs. In fact, it is our effort to address the college cost 
crisis that is the centerpiece of this legislation.
  We know how important higher education is both to individuals and to 
our Nation. A college degree can be a ticket to the middle class. It 
helps individuals prepare for good jobs, and it allows them to pursue 
new skills in the changing economy. Higher education also has important 
societal benefits. College-educated citizens are healthier, more 
civically minded, have lower unemployment rates, and use fewer 
government benefits. An educated citizenry is also vital to maintaining 
our competitive edge in a changing world. Because higher education is 
so important, we made it a priority to ensure all Americans have access 
to a quality and affordable college education.
  In addition to making close to $100 billion in financial aid 
available to students, the Federal Government also spends billions each 
year on aid to institutions: support for college access programs, 
investments in research and development, and many other avenues that 
support higher education.
  Despite the considerable Federal investment, or perhaps in part 
because of it, colleges and universities have increased tuition and 
fees year in and year out. The increases have come in good economic 
times and in bad with steady enrollments and surging enrollments. It 
seems the only thing consistent about college costs is that they're 
going up, and fast.
  With this bill, we hope to change that. Our principles for reform are 
based on the idea that by giving good information to consumers, we can 
empower them to exert influence on the marketplace. Through the power 
of sunshine and transparency, we are lifting the veil on college costs 
and holding institutions of higher learning accountable for their role 
in the cost equation.
  Those principles of sunshine and transparency are hallmarks of this 
bill and not just in the area of college costs. We are also letting the 
sunshine in on college operation and quality through enhanced 
institutional disclosure and a more transparent accreditation process.
  There are numerous positive reforms in this bill, too many even for 
me to name. There are also a number of problems with the bill that I 
hope we could resolve through the amendment process. Unfortunately, 
Republicans were blocked from being full participants in this debate.
  I urge the majority to work with us as we go to conference to resolve 
these issues so we can get the strongest possible bill to the 
President's desk.
  I'm particularly concerned that in its zeal to prevent conflicts of 
interest in student lending, this bill creates a patchwork of new 
requirements that conflict with existing truth-in-lending rules and 
disclosures. I'm a firm believer in disclosure, but I also recognize 
that if we overwhelm borrowers with too much paperwork filled with 
confusing and conflicting information, we may undermine the consumer 
protection we are actually trying to achieve.
  Right now, we know that many lenders, whether they are banks or State 
agencies, are providing sound disclosures to borrowers on their student 
loans. I'm hopeful that as we move into conference we can take that 
information and use it to develop meaningful

[[Page H643]]

disclosure that will ensure that borrowers receive the same type and 
quality of information from each lender.
  I'm also concerned about the number of new programs created in the 
bill. Rather than trying to micromanage from Washington, by creating a 
brand new program for every possible contingency, we should focus on 
less red tape and greater local flexibility.
  Later today, I plan to offer an amendment that moves us in the right 
direction by identifying duplicate, burdensome, or unnecessary 
regulations imposed on our higher education system from throughout the 
Federal Government. This amendment builds on an initiative I began in 
2001 in partnership with the late Representative Patsy Mink, known as 
the Fed Up Project.
  Mr. Chairman, there is always room to improve a bill, and the College 
Opportunity and Affordability Act is no exception. However, on the 
whole, this bill is an achievement of persistence and commitment. It 
updates programs to meet the needs of students in the 21st century and 
to use the power of sunshine and transparency to transform all aspects 
of our higher education system.
  Above all else, this bill offers real solutions to the college cost 
crisis.
  I thank Members on both sides of the aisle for their commitment to 
this cause.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Chairman, as chairman of the Subcommittee on Higher 
Education, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4137, the College 
Opportunity and Affordability Act. This legislation will complete our 
work on the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act and build on 
the historic investment we made last year in the College Cost Reduction 
and Access Act.
  We opened the 110th Congress taking a fresh look at our higher 
education laws. Especially, we called for ideas to close the college 
access and completion gaps for low-income and minority students; to 
improve the financial aid application and delivery system; to improve 
preparations so that low-income and first-generation college students 
are ready to succeed in college academically, financially, and 
socially; leverage more resource for need-based aid; and yes, to 
address the escalating cost of a college education.
  This bill offers comprehensive, bipartisan solutions to all of these 
issues. I would like to thank Chairman Miller and the ranking members 
of the full committee and the subcommittee, especially to my good 
friend Congressman McKeon of California and Congressman Keller of 
Florida, for working with us to craft a bill that every Member of this 
Chamber should be proud to support.
  Mr. Chairman, we must be strong and determined to pass H.R. 4137 
because we are falling behind in producing college graduates. During 
our hearings, we learned that the United States has gone from first to 
fourth place in the world for college graduates in the workplace. We 
are only one of two industrialized nations where older workers are more 
likely to have a college degree than younger workers. This comes at a 
time when the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a shortage of 3 
million college-educated workers as early as the year 2012.
  The gaps in college access and completion is large and growing for 
low-income and minority students because of the high costs of a college 
education. According to the Education Trust, since 1994, white students 
have increased in college completion by 12 percent. African American 
students have only increased by 5.5 percent, and the Hispanic students 
only by 3 percent.
  Given that over 40 percent of our public school children are racial 
or ethnic minorities and one in five is Hispanic, it is imperative that 
we act swiftly and decisively to close the gaps.
  Mr. Chairman, this is what the College Opportunity and Affordability 
Act will do.
  H.R. 4137 will close the college access and completion gaps by 
increasing the authorized Pell Grant maximum to $9,000 and providing 
access to Pell Grants and the Academic Competitiveness and SMART Grants 
year round.
  The legislation recognizes the critical role that minority-serving 
institutions will have to play if we are to produce the college 
graduates our economy needs to thrive. These institutions represent 
less than one-third of all of the colleges and universities in our 
country, but they enroll more than half of all minority students in 
post-secondary education.
  H.R. 4137 authorizes increased investments in building the capacity 
of these essential institutions and ensures that they are full partners 
in teacher preparation and our national competitiveness and innovation 
agenda.
  Additionally, H.R. 4137 includes the minority-serving Institution 
Digital and Wireless Technology Opportunity program, which is a major 
step forward in ensuring that these colleges and universities can 
maintain a state-of-the-art educational delivery system.
  I am particularly proud of our whole committee's work to strengthen 
minority access to STEM fields through a youth engagement in STEM 
partnerships and programs that focus on preparing teachers for these 
high-need fields.
  The College Opportunity and Affordability Act also addresses gaps at 
the post-baccalaureate level. It has been exactly 10 years since I 
introduced legislation to create a graduate program for Hispanic-
serving institutions, and with the passage of this long awaited 
legislation, we will be one step closer to enacting this long overdue 
program.
  Additionally, our bill includes the Patsy Mink Fellowship program to 
provide support for women and minorities to complete graduate degrees 
and join the ranks of university faculty where they are severely 
underrepresented.
  H.R. 4137 will improve early college preparation by strengthening 
programs that are very important to fill the pipeline such as GEAR UP, 
the TRIO program, the HEP and the CAMP programs and emphasizing 
financial literacy and early financial aid estimates.
  I'm a strong believer of reading and writing literacy, and that's why 
I am so in favor of programs such as Reading is Fundamental, which is 
going to help us in graduating more students from high schools.
  This bill will leverage resources through great partnerships. One 
example is the new Grants for Access and Persistence program which will 
leverage State and private resources to increase student aid so that 
low-income, first-generation college students are prepared to enroll 
and succeed in college.
  This bill takes real steps to address college costs through public 
information, accountability, and incentives at the State and 
institutional levels to keep tuition increases low and college within 
reach of all students.

                              {time}  1245

  H.R. 4137 protects students and families by bringing sunshine and 
real consumer protection to the student loan programs both at the 
Federal and the private level.
  Finally, the legislation before us today recognizes our collective 
obligation to the men and women returning from war and seeking to 
resume their lives. Our Nation owes all our veterans the support to 
achieve their dreams through a college education after so valiantly 
serving our country.
  H.R. 4137 establishes a new scholarship program for veterans and 
their families. It ensures fairness for veterans in student aid; it 
also authorizes Centers of Excellence for veteran student success to 
provide a one-stop support system on college campuses to help veterans 
succeed in college and to graduate.
  Mr. Chairman, this legislation is ambitious and thorough because that 
is what these times demand. I encourage all my colleagues in Congress 
to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 4137. Let's get this job done.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McKEON. I am happy to yield 3\1/2\ minutes at this time to the 
ranking member on the subcommittee that has the jurisdiction over this 
higher education bill and commend him for all the work that he has done 
for college students across the country, the gentleman from Florida 
(Mr. Keller).
  Mr. KELLER of Florida. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4137, the 
College Opportunity and Affordability Act, which reauthorizes the 
Higher Education Act.

[[Page H644]]

  I support this legislation because it will expand college access for 
millions of worthy students primarily by strengthening and 
reauthorizing the Pell Grant program and Perkins student loan program.
  I know that these programs work well because I wouldn't have been 
able to go to college if it wasn't for Pell Grants and student loans. 
Also, as the chairman of the Higher Education Subcommittee, and now its 
ranking member, I know that over 5.5 million students get Pell Grants 
each year, and over 500,000 of these students also get Perkins student 
loans, which, together, are the passport out of poverty for so many of 
these young people.
  I'm going to limit my remarks today to the Pell Grant and Perkins 
loan sections of the bill since they are, in my view, the heart of this 
legislation.
  First, with respect to Pell Grants, Pell Grants are money we give to 
children from low- and moderate-income families to pay for their 
college tuition, books, and fees that they never have to repay. This 
bill strengthens the Pell Grant program by providing year-round Pell 
Grants to help college students get through college quicker and by 
increasing the authorization levels.
  This legislation also, at my request, has included language which 
eliminates a wasteful spending loophole that had allowed convicted 
pedophiles and rapists to get Pell Grants even though Congress passed a 
law in 1994 making it illegal for prisoners to get Pell Grants. In my 
home State of Florida, for example, this loophole was exploited by 54 
sexual predators who were able to get over $200,000 in Pell Grants.
  By passing this legislation, we will take money out of the hands of 
convicted predators and put it back into the hands of needy, law-
abiding college students where it belongs.
  With respect to the Perkins loan program, these are very attractive, 
low, fixed rate at 5 percent student loans for children of low- and 
moderate-income families. This legislation will strengthen the Perkins 
loan program by increasing the loan limits for undergraduate and 
graduate students and expanding loan forgiveness to now allow 
firefighters to have their Perkins loan forgiven, as well as nurses, 
teachers, and police officers.
  In closing, I want to thank Chairman Miller for his hard work, 
Ranking Member McKeon and Chairman Hinojosa for working together in a 
bipartisan spirit. This legislation is good for students; it's also 
good for our Treasury. The expert studies show that by investing $16 
billion in Pell Grants, it can help yield up to $85 billion in 
additional tax revenue because the average college graduate makes 75 
percent more than the average high school graduate.
  I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 4137. Let us work 
together in a bipartisan manner to make sure that all children, rich or 
poor, have the opportunity to get their dream of a college education.
  Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to recognize the 
distinguished gentleman, the majority whip of our caucus, the gentleman 
from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn) for 2 minutes.
  Mr. CLYBURN. Thank you for yielding me the time.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 4137, the College 
Opportunity and Affordability Act. Chairman Miller and his staff are to 
be commended for putting together a bill that will aid thousands of 
needy students.
  Mr. Chairman, this legislation will ease the financial burdens being 
placed on working families paying high costs for post-secondary 
education. Passage of this bill will make post-secondary education more 
attainable and affordable for all Americans.
  H.R. 4137 allows students to receive Pell Grants year-round. This 
bill also provides incentives to those colleges and universities that 
work to limit their tuition increases.
  As a proud graduate of South Carolina State University, a 
historically black university in South Carolina, Orangeburg, I am 
pleased to see that this legislation enhances the HBCU Capital 
Financing Program's lending and eligibility criteria.
  And in light of the hardships suffered by those students who had 
their schools destroyed by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, this 
legislation establishes a program to help schools rebuild in the event 
of a natural disaster. This education package also helps colleges 
implement enhanced campus safety and disaster readiness plans.
  Our Nation's continued prosperity is dependent upon the investment 
that we make in securing the futures of our children and grandchildren. 
This legislation will help to maintain America's strong global standing 
by providing our students the tools and resources they need to be 
competitive in a transnational economy.
  I encourage my colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. KELLER of Florida. Mr. Chairman, at this time I yield 4 minutes 
to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder).
  Mr. SOUDER. I thank the gentleman from Florida.
  Often our differences in this body can be fairly sharp and our 
disagreements can be fairly significant over which direction our 
country should actually head, and such debate is very healthy in a 
democracy and vital to getting good policy. But there are other times 
when, in fact, we can work together, and this bill is an example where 
we can work together.
  There are multiple examples in this bill where we fundamentally 
agreed, and there were other things we worked through in the amendment 
process. One important component of this originally Chaka Fattah and I 
sponsored; it was originally called High Hopes. President Clinton 
adopted that as GEAR UP as one of his major programs. Obviously, this 
is a little difficult on the Republican side, but we managed to pass it 
through in a Republican Congress with a Democrat President. We held it 
as a Republican Congress with a Republican President. And now with a 
Democrat Congress and Republican President, GEAR UP continues to expand 
and be a very effective way for low-income students to have the hope, 
if they keep good grades and stay out of trouble, to be assured that 
they can be eligible for student loans, Pell Grants, and other things 
to provide a promise of a future education.
  We also worked as we tried to tackle things like long-distance 
learning and online learning, which is a growth category. I appreciate 
the majority's willingness to work on how colleges and these new 
experimental universities can work towards distance learning and 
expanding without having the heavy hand of government make 
determinations of when they can and when they can't. There have to be 
substantive objections, not arbitrary guidelines. And they worked on 
the language to make sure that was the case.
  We had another technical issue on cohort measurements on student 
loans that some private universities, particularly those that are more 
trade-oriented, as well as minority-based organizations in the original 
draft of this bill, could have seen them go into default. And many low-
income, minority, and trade colleges and so on would have been in deep 
trouble. But the majority took an adjustment in that cohort. Yes, if a 
college is underperforming and not providing education that is so 
necessary to students, it should be disqualified from the student loan 
program; but we have to make sure that colleges, and trade areas in 
particular, don't get arbitrarily knocked out because often they're 
reaching the very people we're trying to attract into higher education. 
I appreciate the majority.
  There has also been a provision that I had in the higher ed bill 
years ago that caused some consternation. I want to make sure that the 
record shows that we were able to work on the student loan provision 
that says if you get convicted of a drug crime, you are suspended from 
your student loan; that we have provisions in this bill, working with 
the majority, to make sure how the drug tests are done so that if you 
test clean twice, you can get your loan back. We have provisions here 
that make it clear that each institution of higher education shall 
provide each student, upon enrollment, a separate, clear, conspicuous 
written notice that addresses this question.
  This was very important because this provision was meant as a 
deterrence, not as a punishment. If a student is at a party and 
somebody says, hey, do you want to try this, you ought to try this pot. 
This will work really well; this will get you high. This meth may keep 
you so you can stay awake to study, you can say, look, I could lose my 
loan

[[Page H645]]

here and lose everything I have. It's one more arsenal in your ability 
to fight illegal narcotics and stay in school. Furthermore, if you're 
on narcotics, your performance inevitably will drop over time.
  This provision has received bipartisan support. We have continued to 
clarify it. And I want to make sure that, unlike previous times when 
this was interpreted to apply to everybody, or if you had committed a 
crime before, you could lose your loan, a student is a student is a 
student. It says, if you have your loan, you can lose your loan. It has 
nothing to do with people who rehab; it has nothing to do with people 
who maybe were in college for 2 years, went out, had problems, and then 
come back. We want those people in school. And I hope the 
administration this time will interpret this, regardless of which party 
it is, correctly. And I want to make sure that the Congressional Record 
shows what the intent of Congress was.
  Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to recognize the gentleman 
from Illinois, the Democratic Caucus Chair, Congressman Rahm Emanuel, 
for 2\1/4\ minutes.
  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Chairman, the FAFSA form that students and their 
parents have to fill out every year for student aid is over 100 
questions, over eight pages long. If a company is applying for an 
export/import loan from the government, it's 13 questions, one page 
long. But a kid is going to college and his parents have to fill out 
over 100 questions.
  Let me read you some of the questions. Go to page 8 and complete the 
columns on the left of worksheets A, B and C. Enter the student totals 
in questions 44, 45 and 46, respectively. Worksheet B, first of 12 
items; payments to tax deferred pension and savings paid directly or 
withheld from earnings, included, but not limited to, amounts reported 
on the W-2 form in boxes 12-A through 2D, codes, D, E, F, G, H and S. 
If you can fill that out, skip college, go to graduate school.
  Now, thankfully for the chairman, we have now put in here to 
streamline this and create an easy form so this is not one of the 
leading causes of divorce in America, the College Aid Plan. And if a 
company can get lawyers and accountants to fill out a one-page form and 
get a big loan for $200 million from the government, taxpayer 
subsidies, kids trying to go to college and achieve the American Dream 
should have something as easy as a big company has. And, thankfully, 
this legislation would accomplish that.
  When I ran for office, I used to, and I still do, visit fire 
stations. And Pat Kehoe, who is a captain in the Chicago Fire 
Department, was the one that turned me on to the notion of what he and 
his wife have to do every year to try to get student aid so their kid 
can go to the University of Illinois. And every year they have to fill 
out a form like this.
  The goal here is for government to finally catch up and get to where 
the private sector has been, which is creating easy forms, things that 
they can do online and get rid of all the bureaucracy and all the 
paperwork.
  Earlier this year, we passed the largest increase in college aid 
since the GI Bill. This legislation will build on that reform so we 
finally make sure that college aid, in the period and the era of where 
you earn where you learn, is accessible to middle-class families and 
their dreams that they have for their children.
  Mr. KELLER of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I note that Mr. Emanuel's 
extension was shorter than even his form that he's seeking here, but 
we're in broad bipartisan support of that simplified process. It was a 
wonderful idea, and I'm glad we could work with him.
  At this time, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Nebraska.

                              {time}  1300

  Mr. SMITH of Nebraska. Mr. Chairman, since being elected to Congress, 
I have had the opportunity to speak with young students throughout the 
Third District of Nebraska. They are smart and sharp, and we need to do 
everything we can to encourage them. Unfortunately, however, many rural 
States have seen what we call ``brain drain'' in recent years. As the 
depletion occurs, we lose our most vital economic asset to more 
populated areas. Responsible policy is needed to retain and grow our 
workforce to make our rural communities more competitive in this modern 
economy.
  The College Opportunity and Affordability Act seeks to address this 
by encouraging economic development partnerships. These partnerships 
would be formed between rural colleges and universities and rural 
employers. This would provide additional career training to students 
attending rural schools in fields significant to the local economy. It 
also would encourage rural businesses to employ students once they 
graduate.
  I thank the chairman and ranking member for working with me to target 
these partnerships to the areas in the most need.
  Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to recognize the gentleman 
from New Jersey, a distinguished member of our Higher Education 
Subcommittee (Mr. Holt), for 2 minutes.
  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Chairman, I would like to commend Chairman Miller and 
Mr. McKeon for producing a strong piece of legislation. The College 
Opportunity and Affordability Act does what the name suggests. It 
expands affordability and access to college education for the broadest 
range of Americans. It expands Pell Grants, the basis of financial aid, 
and I'm pleased to say it allows Pell Grants to be used year round and 
for certificate programs and part-time students, something I have been 
working on for a long time.
  The bill does many other things, including some initiatives that I 
have been working on. It empowers small and community colleges to 
provide child care programs so that working mothers can attend school. 
It includes grants and loan forgiveness for math and science students 
who pledge to conduct service in math and science fields after 
graduation. It includes grants for foreign language partnerships 
between local schools and language departments at institutions of 
higher learning and grants to institutions that will combine science 
with foreign languages.
  I am pleased that in the Education and Labor Committee we were able 
to pass an amendment so that this bill would create an Assistant 
Secretary for International and Foreign Language Education.
  I am pleased to note further that the bill will direct the Institute 
of Medicine to study how to deal with the shortage of nurses that's 
created by the shortage of nursing faculty.
  These initiatives are part of a large effort to make it easier for 
students to finance their education and an effort to strengthen the 
quality of education that they receive. This is a good bill. I look 
forward to working with Members of both parties to see it become law.
  Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.
  The motion was agreed to.
  Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr. 
Walz of Minnesota) having assumed the chair, Mr. Pastor, Chairman of 
the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, reported 
that that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 
4137) to amend and extend the Higher Education Act of 1965, and for 
other purposes, had come to no resolution thereon.

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