[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 24 (Thursday, February 7, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1135-S1138]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mrs. FISCHER (for herself and Mr. Van Hollen):
S. 371. A bill to provide regulatory relief to charitable
organizations that provide housing assistance, and for other purposes;
to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, I rise today to announce the
reintroduction of the bipartisan, bicameral Building Up Independent
Lives and Dreams Act, more commonly known as the BUILD Act.
After the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010, the Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau was tasked with creating a single set of
integrated disclosure forms for mortgage loans. This set of forms,
created by the TRID rule, was designed to provide a more consumer-
friendly approach to traditional mortgage lenders. Its aim was to
streamline disclosure requirements in the Truth in Lending Act and the
Real Estate Settlements Procedures Act into a single set of forms.
The measure works for most traditional mortgage lenders; however, it
buried not-for-profit, charitable organizations in mountains of
paperwork. The weight of the nearly 2,000-page TRID rule is not only
burdensome but confusing--especially for small lenders and housing
charities that do not have the funding to hire financial experts.
The forms present a variety of unnecessary obstacles, including the
requirement for expensive software with a cost calculator. These costly
and complex forms are expected of large banks and institutions, and
they can better afford to hire experts who are well versed on the TRID
rule, but smaller community-based organizations, like Habitat for
Humanity, they simply cannot. The overwhelming majority of the more
than 1,200 Habitat for Humanity organizations across our country are
faced with limited resources.
Historically, Habitat for Humanity has built homes for struggling
families and provided a low- or no-interest loan. The loan amounts are
typically lower due to the free labor of thousands of volunteers in
Habitat projects around the world. These loans give Habitat homeowners
a chance to establish themselves as creditworthy and a fresh start for
their future.
There are currently 15 Habitat for Humanity affiliates in Nebraska.
The chapters in Omaha, Lincoln, Fremont, Grand Island, and Columbus, as
well as the Sarpy County and Scotts Bluff County chapters have voiced
their full support for the BUILD Act. I thank them for that.
These organizations are a constant source of hope for our communities
across the State, and they make significant contributions to provide a
hand up for struggling families. The executive director of Habitat's
Lincoln chapter recently sent my office the story of a local couple who
became a Habitat homeowner.
Abdelkarim and Sailwa worked hard to provide for their five sons.
With help from Habitat for Humanity, the couple was approved for a 30-
year, zero-interest mortgage on their new home. Payments are capped at
30 percent of their combined monthly income. Now Sailwa can work part
time, and Abdelkarim pursues his degree from Southeast Community
College. He is helping to secure his family's future. Their children
are comfortable in their neighborhood, where they have made new friends
and attend a local school.
The executive director of the Lincoln chapter continued, saying:
``With the ability to focus on our mission, instead of burdensome
regulatory requirements and expenses, we can help more families build
strength, stability, and self-reliance through homeownership.
The BUILD Act will do exactly that. This bill will allow nonprofits
to use the simpler Truth in Lending, good-faith estimate and HUD-1
forms, instead of that overbearing, nearly 2,000-page TRID rule. These
forms were previously used for years.
Habitat for Humanity's volunteers with financial expertise were once
able to sit down with the borrower and review each section of the forms
together. This gave the volunteer an opportunity to teach the new
homeowner about personal finance and the critical steps he or she could
take to grow as a financially responsible citizen. With the passage of
the BUILD Act, volunteers will be able to provide this prudent advice
once again.
My office has also been informed that some Habitat chapters lack the
staffing capacity to comply with the TRID rule. What is more, these
chapters do not possess the adequate funding needed to purchase the
required software.
In Habitat for Humanity chapters in Lincoln, Grand Island, and
Fremont, they are going to benefit from the passage of the BUILD Act,
and I think all of us in this body can agree that charitable
organizations like Habitat for Humanity are a constant source of hope
for families in need. They should not be hurt because of a preventable
oversight.
By working together and finding commonsense solutions, we can fix
this. The BUILD Act gained momentum last year and passed the House
unanimously, but we can push this legislation over the finish line
during the 116th Congress.
I thank the junior Senator from Maryland for partnering with me and
helping to reintroduce this bipartisan legislation. I thank our lead
sponsors in the House who spearheaded this effort last Congress.
The BUILD Act would provide that commonsense reform to ensure all
housing charities are able to provide much needed stability to
communities without being harmed by overly burdensome regulations.
The President highlighted a variety of different ways we can work
together during his State of the Union speech this week, and I believe
the passage of a bipartisan, bicameral BUILD Act would be an
encouraging start.
______
By Mr. BARRASSO (for himself, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Jones, Ms. Baldwin,
Mr. Boozman, Mrs. Capito, Ms. Collins, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Cramer,
Mr. Enzi, Mrs. Fischer, Mr. Gardner, Ms. Hassan, Mr. Hoeven,
Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Johnson, Mr. King, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Manchin,
Mr. Peters, Ms. Smith, Mr. Thune, Mr. Udall, Mr. Wicker, and
Mr. Wyden):
S. 382. A bill to authorize a special resource study on the spread
vectors of chronic wasting disease in Cervidae, and for other purposes;
to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I have spoken many times in this Chamber
about human health from my perspective as an orthopedic surgeon. Today,
I am here to talk about a different crisis that is facing our Nation.
Earlier today, 24 of my colleagues joined me in introducing a bill to
combat chronic wasting disease in cervid populations across this
country. Chronic wasting disease is a terrible degenerative brain
disease. It affects captive and wild deer, elk, moose, and caribou in
at least 26 States and several Canadian Provinces. It is highly
contagious and always fatal.
In my home State of Wyoming, chronic wasting disease was first
detected back in 1985. Since then, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department
has partnered with scientists, State wildlife managers, and Federal
Agencies to understand how the disease spreads. Many other state
agencies have forged similar partnerships to study the same things.
Over the last 34 years, their work has shown that the disease is spread
by prions, but how these prions actually infect animals remains a
mystery.
The disease can be transmitted through nose-to-nose contact, through
[[Page S1136]]
animal waste, or through carcasses of infected animals. Some studies
have suggested that prions can remain in affected soil for up to 16
years.
Well, there is a lot we still don't know about the disease, including
the risk to humans. Chronic wasting disease is a type of transmissible
spongiform encephalopathy, like bovine spongiform encephalopathy and
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
There are a number of diseases I studied in medical school from a
human standpoint that now seem to be affecting animals as well.
There have been no reported cases of this chronic wasting disease in
humans as of this time, but the Centers for Disease Control takes the
risk of human infection quite seriously. The CDC developed a list of
things people can do to reduce their own risk of consuming meat from an
infected animal. Across the country, many people rely on meat they
harvest from deer, moose, and elk to feed their families. For them
hunting is not a recreational activity but an important part of their
way of life.
Hunting also contributes tens of billions of dollars in economic
activity each year. Those dollars fund important wildlife research and
habitat conservation and contribute nearly 10,000 jobs in Wyoming
alone. Dollars derived from the sales of tags or hunting licenses and
hunting equipment are used by State wildlife agencies to carry out
important monitoring, management, and conservation work.
If this disease persists and we cannot instill confidence in the
public that the risk can be controlled, hunting will decrease. Fewer
licenses sold means less money for our wildlife agencies, which means
less research. So we need to act now.
Chronic wasting disease threatens the iconic deer, elk, and moose
herds that roam our State. It is a threat to our western heritage, but
it is not just a western problem. Chronic wasting disease has found its
way to Alabama, New York, and Pennsylvania. After finding the disease
late last year, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency now requires
hunters to check in their deer at physical locations to check for
infection. The Muley Fanatic Foundation in Wyoming, which does
fantastic work, told me there is no bigger threat to our big game
populations than the spread of chronic wasting disease.
The bill is being introduced today. Senator Jones from Alabama is on
the floor and is going to speak next. The bill we have introduced today
requires the Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service and the U.S. Geological Survey to work with the
National Academies of Science to answer some important questions about
chronic wasting disease. They will review gaps in current scientific
knowledge about transmission. They will review where Federal and State
best management practices can better align, and they will review the
areas at greatest risk for new infections.
State wildlife managers need answers to these questions so they can
coordinate prevention and control efforts among their States and so
they can target their research to fill in any gaps in current
knowledge.
Chronic wasting disease is not a new threat, but it is one that has
fundamentally changed our efforts to manage and conserve wildlife.
Unchecked, this disease can truly be catastrophic for wildlife and for
local economies. Across our Nation, whole industries are built around
wildlife, tourism, wildlife watching, and deer and elk farming.
I believe this bill and this research can make a real difference. So
I am glad that so many of my colleagues agree and have cosponsored this
legislation.
Mr. JONES. Mr. President, first, I would like to thank my colleague
from Wyoming for his work today and for his work on this very, very
important issue of chronic wasting disease and prevention. This is an
issue of great importance not only to Alabama but to 26 other States--
from Wyoming to Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi. This is an issue
which, if we fail to act, will result in an environmental and economic
crisis.
Chronic wasting disease, or CWD, is truly a terrible, contagious
neurological illness that affects all deer, elk, and moose populations
nationwide. It is a disease that is as bad as it sounds. It functions
much like mad cow disease.
Senator Barrasso gave all of the scientific words. He has a little
bit more training in that than I do. So I will just call it what it
is--mad cow disease and neurological disorders.
It attacks an animal's nervous system and, over time, renders the
animal weak and emaciated, with little control over its body. The
disease has a fatality rate of 100 percent. Every single animal that
contracts this disease dies. It is highly communicable, spreading not
only through physical contact but also through contaminated
environments where infected animals have been.
The jury is still out on whether chronic wasting disease may be
transmitted to humans, but the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention recommend against consuming animals contaminated with the
disease. In 2017, a Canadian study documented transmission through
consumption of contaminated meat to a nonhuman primate. Clearly, this
is something to be very concerned and cautious about because of the
clear and concrete evidence that it could be transmitted to humans.
The fact is, the disease is spreading, and it is spreading fast. Even
if it does not pose an immediate health threat to humans or at least a
documented health threat right now, it poses a serious significant
financial threat to Alabama and many other States.
The total annual economic contribution of deer hunting to the U.S.
economy is close to $40 billion. In fact, as a hunting company, if it
were a publicly-traded company, it would fall in the top 100 on the
Fortune 500 list.
The hunting industry in Alabama generates $2.6 billion every year for
the State's economy, and according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, deer hunting alone generates nearly $2 billion or roughly 80
percent of that amount. Obviously, this makes deer hunting sound like a
very big business, and it is. It is a big business in Alabama, and it
is a big business across the country.
But make no mistake. It is more than just that. It is more than just
an economy. It is more than money that comes into our community. Any
hunter in Alabama will tell you that hunting is not only a time-honored
tradition and a recreational pastime. It is in our State and in so many
others a way of life.
Hunters in Alabama will also tell you about the devastating effect
that CWD can have in the State of Alabama. They use the word
``disaster,'' and they are not exaggerating.
Chronic wasting disease is spreading throughout the country, and it
is closing in on Alabama. Cases have already been confirmed in southern
Tennessee and northeastern Mississippi. A study out of the University
of Tennessee in Knoxville on the projected impacts of chronic wasting
disease in Tennessee has predicted a nearly $100 million total loss to
that State alone.
We are thankful currently that no deer in Alabama have yet tested
positive for CWD, which is a testament to the hard work being done by
groups like the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources, but State agencies alone cannot address this problem. Their
budgets are already strained by the activities that they currently
undertake to monitor and manage the disease as well as the many other
fine programs they manage in my State and elsewhere.
Adequate resources must be devoted to studying the transmission of
this disease and developing strategies for its containment. If it
doesn't happen, then CWD, or chronic wasting disease, in Alabama and in
other States not yet affected becomes not a question of if but when.
That is why today, along with Senator Barrasso from Wyoming and
Senator Bennet from Colorado, we are proud to introduce the Chronic
Wasting Disease Transmission in Cervidae Study Act.
Once again, I want to commend Senator Barrasso, in particular, as the
chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee for his
leadership in this space. I know he cares deeply about Wyoming's
wildlife population, but clearly he cares about the population and
conservation efforts throughout the country.
Despite its widespread prevalence, very little is known about CWD and
how it is transmitted. Our bipartisan
[[Page S1137]]
legislation tasks the USDA and the Department of the Interior to work
with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a review of the
existing science, how it is spread, and current best-management
practices in order to get a better handle on what we already know about
the disease and its transmission.
More specifically, this legislation will allow us to identify the
most effective techniques for prevention, surveillance, and management
of the disease. It will also enable us to get a better understanding of
the total economic cost of CWD to our State economies, to wildlife
agencies, to landowners, and to hunters.
A review conducted under this legislation will allow us to gather
essential data that will enable us to conduct better research into the
future and to better formulate our policy goals in order to mitigate
and manage this devastating disease.
Like many Alabamians, I love spending time outdoors, taking in the
breathtaking nature and wildlife of my State. Alabama is a gorgeous
State with an incredibly diverse array of fauna and wildlife. It is an
amazing place. I am also a pretty avid hunter, and, in fact, this
weekend is the last weekend for deer season in my State, and I am
hoping to get out there this Sunday, the very last day, for the last
deer hunt of the season as this season comes to a close. This has
really been a cherished pastime for me and my youngest child, my son
Christopher, for many, many years.
Taking action to find a solution to stop the spread of CWD will help
to ensure that countless other outdoors men and women--because women
are a big part of the hunting population in the State of Alabama--can
continue to enjoy this tradition.
We have to do everything we can to combat what is truly an
existential threat to the deer hunting industry in my State and around
the country. Our legislation is an essential step forward in protecting
the health of our wildlife, protecting the health of our environment,
and, ultimately, protecting the way of life for millions of hunting
Americans.
Thank you, Mr. President.
______
By Mr. CARDIN (for himself and Mr. Van Hollen):
S. 416. A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to amend the
process by which students with certain special circumstances apply for
Federal financial aid; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor,
and Pensions.
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I would like to bring the Senate's
attention to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
Fairness Act of 2019, common sense legislation I am introducing with my
colleague from Maryland, Senator Van Hollen today. This legislation
seeks to eliminate a barrier that potential college students with
difficult personal and financial circumstances face when applying for
Federal financial aid that too often has left them without a path
forward to earning a college education and joining the middle class.
This body has worked to improve the college application process for
students and their families over the last several years and
successfully lobbied the Department of Education to allow students and
their families to submit their FAFSA application in October and utilize
prior prior-year tax data. These changes provide future college
students and their families with several months to submit their
financial information instead of a short time frame between January and
February to meet State and institutional-based deadlines for need- and
merit-based financial aid programs. These steps have made it easier for
students to sit with their families and make informed financial
decisions on which college or university will provide the highest
quality yet least expensive college education.
Despite our work, a number of our students are being left behind and
cannot take advantage of these changes. Many of these students face
difficult personal and financial situations. For instance, some have
left home due to abusive family environments; others may have parents
who are incarcerated. Still others may be unable to locate their
parents. All of the students in these circumstances are unable to fill
out the FAFSA application. Rather than fill out one universal Federal
financial aid application form, a potential college student must
contact each institution she or he is applying to and undergo a
``dependency override'' process before a college or university will put
together an estimated financial aid package for the student. Under this
process, a student applying to one university in my State of Maryland,
for instance, must submit nine different pieces of financial
information, a personal statement, and references to verify their
independent status. These students, often first generation students
unfamiliar with the process for applying to school, may give up on the
dependency override process and fail to finish the college application
process or leave significant Federal financial aid on the table.
Mr. President, I think it is unfair that we place additional burdens
on these students. We should not make opening the door to a brighter
future harder than it is already. In Maryland, we know that access to a
high-quality, yet affordable, education is the key to success and
increasingly required for entry into the middle class. Regardless of a
student's background or the circumstances that he or she has fought to
overcome, it is my belief that this Congress should work to ensure
maximum access to higher education.
The FAFSA Fairness Act would seek to correct this inequity for some
of our most vulnerable students. If enacted, my legislation would allow
students in these difficult personal and financial circumstances to
fill out a FAFSA form as a ``provisional independent'' student and
receive a provisional determination of their Federal financial aid
award from the Department of Education. The colleges that the student
applies to would receive notification of the student's special
circumstances and conduct outreach to inform the student of the process
for completing a dependency override. After a student has completed the
dependency override form, the school would provide the student with a
final financial aid award package that includes Federal, State, and
institutional need- and merit-based aid so the student could bargain
shop for the best financial aid award package between multiple schools.
After such students have been admitted to college, this legislation
would allow them to remain focused on their classwork instead of annual
recertification of their independent status by maintaining the
dependency override decision for as long as they remain in school or if
the university is made aware of new information about their status. My
legislation would provide students with a pathway to complete the
FAFSA, one of the first steps towards applying to college and obtaining
a foothold in the middle class. It also provides students with an
opportunity to identify the colleges and universities that match up the
best with their financial situation and educational goals.
I am proud to lead this Senate effort with my colleague from Maryland
and appreciate the work of our delegation, especially U.S.
Representatives Elijah E. Cummings, C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, and John
P. Sarbanes, who are introducing a companion bill in the U.S. House of
Representatives. I urge my Senate colleagues to join in this effort to
help some of our most vulnerable and disadvantaged students achieve
their dream of higher education despite their difficult family and
financial circumstances.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be
printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 416
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 ``FAFSA Fairness Act of
2019''.
SEC. 2. PROVISIONAL INDEPENDENCE FOR CERTAIN STUDENTS.
Section 483 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1090) is amended--
(1) in subsection (h)(1), by inserting the following before
the semicolon: ``, including the special circumstances under
which a student may qualify for a determination of
independence''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(i) Provisional Independent Students.--
``(1) Requirements for the secretary.--The Secretary
shall--
[[Page S1138]]
``(A) enable each student who, based on the special
circumstance specified in subsection (h)(1), may qualify for
an adjustment under section 479A that will result in a
determination of independence under such section and section
480(d)(1)(I), to complete the forms developed by the
Secretary under subsection (a) as an independent student for
the purpose of a provisional determination of the student's
Federal financial aid award, but subject to verification
under paragraph (2)(E) for the purpose of the final
determination of the award;
``(B) upon completion of the forms developed by the
Secretary under subsection (a), provide an estimate of the
student's Federal Pell Grant award, based on the assumption
the student is determined to be an independent student;
``(C) ensure that, on each form developed under this
section, there is a single and easily understood screening
question to identify an applicant for aid who wishes to
provisionally apply for independent status under sections
479A and 480(d)(1)(I); and
``(D) specify, on the forms, the consequences under section
490(a) of knowingly and willfully completing the forms as an
independent student under subparagraph (A) without meeting
the special circumstances to qualify for such a
determination.
``(2) Requirements for financial aid administrators.--With
respect to a student accepted for admission who completes the
forms as an independent student under paragraph (1)(A), a
financial aid administrator--
``(A) shall notify the student of the institutional process
and requirements for an adjustment under sections 479A and
480(d)(1)(I) that will result in a determination of
independence under such sections within a reasonable time
after the student completes the forms developed by the
Secretary under subsection (a) as an independent student for
the purpose of a provisional determination of the student's
Federal financial aid award;
``(B) may make an adjustment under sections 479A and
480(d)(1)(I) for a determination of independence in the
absence of conflicting information;
``(C) shall provide a final determination of the student's
Federal financial aid award to the student in the same manner
as, and by not later than the date that, the administrator
provides most other provisionally independent students their
final determinations of Federal financial aid awards, or
during the award year in which the student initially submits
an application, whichever comes sooner;
``(D) shall, in making a final determination of the
student's Federal financial aid award, use the discretion
provided under sections 479A and 480(d)(1)(I) to verify
whether the student meets the special circumstances to
qualify as an independent student;
``(E) in accordance with paragraph (B), may consider as
adequate verification that a student qualifies for an
adjustment under sections 479A and 480(d)(1)(I)--
``(i) submission of a court order or official Federal or
State documentation that the student's parent or legal
guardian is incarcerated in any Federal or State penal
institution;
``(ii) a documented phone call with, or a written statement
from--
``(I) a child welfare agency authorized by a State or
county;
``(II) a Tribal child welfare authority;
``(III) an independent living case worker; or
``(IV) a public or private agency, facility, or program
serving the victims of abuse, neglect, assault, or violence;
``(iii) a documented phone call with, or a written
statement from, an attorney, a guardian ad litem, or a court
appointed special advocate, documenting that person's
relationship to the student;
``(iv) a documented phone call with, or a written statement
from, a representative of a program under chapter 1 or 2 of
subpart 2 of part A; or
``(v) submission of a copy of the student's biological or
adoptive parents' or legal guardians'--
``(I) certificates of death; or
``(II) verified obituaries;
``(F) if a student does not have, and cannot get,
documentation from any of the designated authorities
described in subparagraph (E) of whether a student may
qualify for an adjustment under sections 479A and
480(d)(1)(I) that will result in a determination of
independence, may base the verification and final
determination on--
``(i) a documented interview with the student that is
limited to whether the student meets the requirements, and
not about the reasons for the student's situations; and
``(ii) an attestation from the student that they meet the
requirements, which includes a description of the approximate
dates that the student ended the financial or caregiving
relationship with their parent or legal guardian, to the best
of the student's knowledge;
``(G) retain all documents related to the adjustment under
sections 479A and 480(d)(1)(I), including documented
interviews, for the duration of the student's enrollment at
the institution and for a minimum of 1 year after the student
is no longer enrolled at the institution; and
``(H) shall presume that any student who has obtained an
adjustment under sections 479A and 480(d)(1)(I) and a final
determination of independence for a preceding award year at
an institution to be independent for a subsequent award year
at the same institution unless--
``(i) the student informs the institution that
circumstances have changed; or
``(ii) the institution has specific conflicting information
about the student's independence.''.
____________________