[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 86 (Thursday, May 24, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2936-S2937]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CARDIN:
  S. 2984. A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide 
greater access to higher education for America's students, to eliminate 
educational barriers for participation in a public service career, and 
for other purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, today, I am introducing the Strengthening 
American Communities (SAC) Act of 2018. My bill seeks to expand access 
to debt-free public service career pathways for Americans who want to 
serve their communities, States, or Nation. No one should be denied the 
opportunity to serve their community as a law enforcement officer, 
public health practitioner, social worker, or educator based on his or 
her ability to afford the rising cost of an undergraduate education. My 
bill is a first step toward correcting public sector workforce 
disparities by enabling people to serve their communities without being 
hobbled by massive student loan debt, and by providing current public 
servants with the financial freedom to continue to heed their calling 
to service.
  Every city, town, and rural community in the United States relies on 
individuals who choose to utilize their talents for the betterment of 
others while accepting the lower pay of public service careers. The 
very foundation of our civil society is based on these public servants 
making such sacrifices. Far too many individuals who feel drawn to 
public service do not pursue such careers--or they are forced to 
abandon such careers prematurely--due to the high cost of obtaining 
their college educations. When I had the opportunity to hear directly 
from a student at an Historically Black College and University (HBCU) 
in my home State of Maryland, I was saddened to hear from an 
academically successful sophomore who was planning to drop out of 
school because she feared further indebting herself and her family. She 
said that while she appreciated the financial assistance she did 
receive, it simply wasn't sufficient to cover her cost of attendance. 
While this student had aspirations to serve in her own community, she 
could not bear to burden her family with the cost of her education. As 
a result, my home City of Baltimore lost out on a young, engaged 
aspiring public servant.
  Our current system of indebting individuals at the onset of their 
careers has led to minority underrepresentation in the public sector 
workforce. First generation college students and students from low-
income families cannot afford to take on student loan debt and enter 
into lower-paying public service careers. As a result, our Nation is 
deprived of the talents and perspectives of individuals who want to 
serve their communities but simply cannot afford to do so. As a result, 
our workforce is less representative of the people it serves. We must 
find new ways for people to earn the degrees they need to serve our 
communities. I believe that students who make a commitment to public 
service should be afforded a debt-free pathway to the baccalaureate 
degree they need to start their public service career. And those 
individuals who have already made the decision to choose service over 
salary should not have to wait for ten years in a lower-paying public 
career before seeing any reward in the form of Federal student loan 
forgiveness.
  The Strengthen American Communities Act I am introducing today offers 
a new path for future public servants to earn their baccalaureate 
degree. Through a new partnership between the Federal Government, 
States, and public and private, non-profit institutions of higher 
education, students will have the ability to receive the first two 
years of their education at a community college, Minority Serving 
Institution, or Historically Black College or University tuition- and 
fee-free. Colleges would be required to commit to ensuring student 
success, and students would have to meet certain academic standards and 
complete their education within two years. Once students transfer into 
a four-year institution for their junior and senior years, those who 
commit themselves to at least three years of public service and meet 
academic standards will receive a National Public Service Education 
Grant to pay a significant portion of their college's tuition, fees, 
and room and board costs. Universities must provide students with 
opportunities to engage in public service commitments, academic 
counseling and student support services, and the opportunity to earn to 
finish their degree in fewer than two years. Depending on a student's 
financial need, under the Strengthening American Communities Act, she 
or he may be able to graduate with a baccalaureate degree debt-free 
before embarking on the path to becoming a public servant.
  For those individuals who have already answered their calling to 
public service, my legislation would assist more public servants 
continue serving their communities by accelerating the existing Public 
Service Loan Forgiveness program. Under current law, these dedicated 
workers must work for 10 years in a public service career and make 120 
payments on their Federal student loans before they see a dime of

[[Page S2937]]

Federal student loan forgiveness. Economic, family, and other reasons 
can cause individuals to leave the public sector workforce and despite 
their years of service, the service these workers provided are not 
taken into consideration. I propose to accelerate the Public Service 
Loan Forgiveness program to provide more immediate student loan relief. 
For every two years of employment and corresponding monthly Federal 
student loan payments, hard-working public sector employees will 
receive a percentage of their student loans forgiven, with 100 percent 
of the Federal student loan balance being forgiven at the end of 10 
years of service. By accelerating Public Service Loan Forgiveness, we 
can encourage additional individuals to stay in the public sector 
workforce despite the lower-paying salaries, reduce their cost of 
borrowing for home and auto loans, and set aside additional money for 
their own retirement.
  As Congress moves forward with an overdue reauthorization of the 
Higher Education Act, I urge my colleagues to join in this effort to 
help individuals who are wholly committed to public service by 
supporting the Strengthening American Communities Act. No individual 
willing to serve his or her community in a public service career should 
be held back from that calling due to the high cost of obtaining a 
college education. No individual willing to serve his or her community 
should be forced to leave public service because of financial hardship.

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