[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 119 (Monday, July 27, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H5490-H5491]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1545
NEED-BASED EDUCATIONAL AID ACT OF 2015
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (S. 1482) to improve and reauthorize provisions relating to the
application of the antitrust laws to the award of need-based
educational aid.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
S. 1482
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 ``Need-Based Educational Aid
Act of 2015''.
SEC. 2. EXTENSION RELATING TO THE APPLICATION OF THE
ANTRITRUST LAWS TO THE AWARD OF NEED-BASED
EDUCATIONAL AID.
Section 568 of the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994
(15 U.S.C. 1 note) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``or'' after the
semicolon;
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking ``; or'' and inserting a
period at the end; and
(C) by striking paragraph (4); and
(2) in subsection (d), by striking ``2015'' and inserting
``2022''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) and the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Johnson)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.
General Leave
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and to include extraneous materials on the bill currently under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Virginia?
There was no objection.
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
S. 1482, the Need-Based Educational Aid Act of 2015, continues an
antitrust exemption that is set to expire on September 30, 2015. The
exemption allows participating colleges and universities to collaborate
on a set of criteria to determine applicants' needs for private
financial aid.
To be clear, this exemption does not apply to Federal financial aid,
only to aid directly provided by the participating colleges and
universities.
The Antitrust Modernization Commission generally cautioned against
antitrust exemptions and recommended that Congress closely examine any
proposed antitrust immunities.
The antitrust exemption continued by S. 1482 has been in place since
1992. Over the past 23 years, Congress has extended the antitrust
exemption on four separate occasions, each time with broad, bipartisan
support.
Additionally, the Government Accountability Office conducted a study
to determine whether the exemption adversely impacted the affordability
of college and concluded that it did not.
While S. 1482 continues the existing antitrust exemption, it also
narrows it in recognition of the fact that one of the practices allowed
by that exemption has not been utilized by participating colleges and
universities. Accordingly, the legislation limits the scope of
antitrust exemption to those activities that colleges and universities
truly need and use.
Given the lengthy legislative record, the narrowed scope of the
exemption, the GAO study on the effects of the bill, and the 7-year
sunset included in the bill, I believe that S. 1482 proposes a safe
extension of a reasonable and worthwhile antitrust exemption.
I thank the former chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Congressman
Smith, for introducing the House version of this legislation, H.R.
2604, which the Judiciary Committee ordered favorably reported without
amendment.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance
of my time.
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, S. 1482, the Need-Based Educational Aid Act of 2015,
would extend an exemption to the Federal antitrust laws that permits
some of our Nation's most prestigious colleges and universities to
agree to admit students on a need-blind basis and award financial aid
to students with the most demonstrated need.
I am pleased to serve as the lead Democratic cosponsor of the House
companion to this bipartisan legislation. S. 1482 allows colleges and
universities that admit students on a need-blind basis to collaborate
on the formula they use to determine how much families can pay for
college.
This exemption was first enacted in 1992, and since then, Congress
has reauthorized it four times without opposition, most recently in
2008.
In addition to allowing collaboration on a common formula for
calculating an applicant's ability to pay for college, the exemption
also allows academic institutions to agree to award aid only on the
basis of financial need.
In other words, this exemption ensures that the most qualified
students may attend some of our Nation's most prestigious schools,
regardless of family income. This is especially important for low-
income students, who should not be forced to choose between academic
institutions on the basis of financial need or financial aid alone.
While I think we could do more to empower students through better
funding of higher education, this legislation is critical to preserving
a level playing field for students at these institutions through a
need-blind admissions process.
The 568 Presidents' Group, a coalition of 23 prestigious colleges and
universities that support need-based financial aid, strongly supports
this bill.
In a letter sent to the Judiciary Committee earlier this year, the
568 Presidents' Group stated that the exemption allows institutions to
maximize the allocation of financial aid to ``ensure that those funds
are targeted to benefit the students with the greatest financial need
and to reduce or, in some cases, eliminate debt loads on graduation.''
Similarly, the presidents of Duke and Cornell have written in support
of this legislation, stating that the exemption ``makes a real
difference for our students'' and is essential to developing
[[Page H5491]]
the ``best practices to calculate institutional aid awards.''
We should move quickly to adopt this legislation and ensure that this
important exemption does not expire.
In closing, I thank my colleague Congressman Lamar Smith, the former
chairman of the Judiciary Committee, for his steadfast leadership on
this bill since the 105th Congress and during this Congress.
I also thank my Senate colleagues, Senate Judiciary Chairman Leahy
and Ranking Member Grassley, for their leadership on the bill.
I encourage my colleagues to support S. 1482, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith), the chairman of the Science
Committee, the former chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and the
chief sponsor of the House version of this legislation.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, let me thank my friend from
Virginia, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Bob Goodlatte, for
yielding me time and also for bringing this bill to the House floor.
I support S. 1482, the Need-Based Educational Aid Act. As the author
of the identical House bill, I am pleased that we are considering it
today.
The Need-Based Educational Aid Act extends the current antitrust
exemptions set to expire on September 30 for another 7 years. It allows
a limited number of private universities that admit students on need-
blind basis to award financial aid from the schools' own funds, based
entirely on students' demonstrated financial need.
This bill authorizes these institutions of higher education to use
common principles to assess students' financial need, and it allows the
schools to use a common financial aid application form.
It also permits multiple schools that have accepted the same student
to award the same assistance. This ensures that the student selects the
college that is the best fit, rather than the school that offered the
most financial aid.
This issue has long been of interest to me personally, having worked
on three previous extensions. Common treatment of this narrow category
of educational aid makes sense. A Government Accountability Office
study previously found that there has been no abuse of the antitrust
exemption and that tuition has not gone up as a result.
The Need-Based Educational Aid Act helps ensure that financial aid is
available to students solely on the basis of demonstrated need.
Students who otherwise qualify should not be denied the opportunity to
access higher education due to limited financial means. S. 1482
protects this need-based aid and need-blind admissions.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from Georgia, Hank
Johnson, a member of the Judiciary Committee, for being the original
coauthor of the identical House bill and for his leadership on this
particular issue.
I urge my colleagues to support the Need-Based Educational Aid Act.
Again, I thank the chairman of the Judiciary Committee for bringing
it to the House floor.
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
I would, at this time, like to thank my chairman, Bob Goodlatte, of
the Judiciary Committee, for his expeditious bringing of this
legislation to the committee and now to the floor.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I want to thank the gentleman from Georgia; the gentleman from Texas
(Mr. Smith); the ranking member, Mr. Conyers; and others for this very
bipartisan legislation.
I urge my colleagues to support it, and I yield back the balance of
my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, S. 1482.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
____________________