[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 27 (Friday, February 18, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E312-E313]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             FULL-YEAR CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2011

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 17, 2011

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1) making 
     appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other 
     departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2011, and for other purposes:

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the Kline 
amendment, which seeks to short circuit the Department of Education's 
ongoing rulemaking process regarding the Higher Education Act's 
``gainful employment'' requirement for postsecondary programs.

[[Page E313]]

  Private sector colleges and universities serve 2.8 million students 
and receive $32.5 billion in federal student aid. Even more students 
are enrolled in career training programs at non-profit colleges. These 
training programs are an important part of our education system and 
provide a valuable service, particularly to non-traditional students.
  Unfortunately, a number of investigations have recently cast light on 
bad actors in the for-profit sector that have been using deceptive 
recruiting tactics and inflated job placement and completion rates. All 
stakeholders in this process--from students seeking a quality 
education, to citizens insisting their tax dollars are spent 
responsibly, to the many legitimate programs--have an interest in 
seeing these abuses stopped.
  The Department of Education began a process to define ``gainful 
employment'' in 2009 and released a proposed rule in July 2010. The 
plan has sparked intense debate, with more than 90,000 comments, and I 
urge the Department to continue to engage with all stakeholders and 
address legitimate concerns as they refine the rule.
  However, this amendment would stop the process altogether, ending the 
dialogue for the rest of the fiscal year. I am also concerned that this 
amendment would bar enforcement of new rules that require for-profit 
schools and non-degree programs to disclose basic program information, 
like graduation rates, program costs, and median loan debt for 
graduates, to prospective applicants.
  Mr. Chair, if the final rule from the Department of Education does 
not meet the goal of rooting out bad actors while preserving access to 
high quality postsecondary education, this body should--and I believe 
will--step in and make changes. But the Department is attempting to 
address an important issue: stopping taxpayer funding to sub-par 
programs that leave students nowhere but deeper in debt. Congress 
should not cut off that process midway through.

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