[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 186 (Wednesday, November 20, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6698-S6700]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                  Unanimous Consent Request--H.R. 2486

  Mr. CARPER. Madam President, I rise this afternoon to talk about what 
some observers have called one of the best historically black colleges 
and universities in our country--Delaware State University in Dover, 
DE, home of the Hornets.
  For a number of years, I was a naval flight officer in the Vietnam 
war and then came back to the United States and moved to Delaware and 
got an MBA at the University of Delaware. Right away after that, I went 
to work at what became the Delaware Economic Office. We were 
headquartered at the campus of Delaware State College.
  Delaware State College was an HBCU and was not a well-funded college, 
not one that was in the favor, frankly, of the Governor and 
legislature, for the most part, and was a bit of a stepchild.
  I used to think: Boy, wouldn't it be great to be able to help 
transform Delaware State College into something historic, memorable, 
and outstanding.
  Later on, I would be elected Governor--about 15 years later--and have 
the chance to work with the fellow who was the president of Delaware 
State University at the time and to transform, with the help of the 
Delaware General Assembly, Delaware State College into Delaware State 
University.
  Today, of all the HBCUs in the country, I think its latest rating is 
No. 5, and I think there are 70 or 75 of them in all. They just 
reported that their enrollment for the coming year will reach 5,000 
students, all in undergraduate, graduate, master's and Ph.D. programs, 
which is a record. We are proud of the Hornets and the great job they 
are doing educating people.
  Last month, in one of my frequent visits to Delaware State, I took a 
campus tour unlike any other, from the cockpit of a brand-new Vulcanair 
V1.0 single-engine aircraft. We flew all over Kent County, north of 
Dover. We had a chance to do some approaches. It was a lot of fun, and 
it was basically a reminder that Delaware State provides undergraduate 
and graduate programs for all kinds of training and educational needs. 
One of the key ones right now and one of the most interesting, at least 
for a naval flight officer, is that Delaware State is the largest 
producer of pilots and aviation professionals of color in the country. 
I believe they have over 100 students and every one of them, when they 
graduate, has a job waiting for them. Some are pilots and others do a 
variety of work for aviation.
  Today, we have about 157 million people who go to work in this 
country, and we have about 5 million jobs where nobody will show up. 
One of those areas where we need people is in the aviation world, and 
Delaware State is providing that. When the plane landed earlier this 
year at the airport just north of Dover, I held a roundtable with the 
Delaware State University executive vice president and provost, Dr. 
Tony Allen. We talked with administrators and students about a 
bipartisan bill called the FUTURE Act, which was discussed on the floor 
today and in previous days.
  The FUTURE Act, as you will recall, was introduced by Senator Jones 
along with Senator Scott from South Carolina, and would provide a 
little over $255 million annually to minority-serving institutions of 
higher education including about $85 million to HBCUs for an additional 
2 years through fiscal year 2021.
  Almost $900,000 of that money will go directly to Delaware State 
University.

[[Page S6699]]

You might ask: What would Delaware State do with that money? They use 
this Federal funding to help support STEM and teacher education 
programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels and to ensure that 
students at Delaware State have access to the best research tools. 
Specifically, this funding is used to help modernize classrooms at DSU, 
to improve math instruction, and to help recruit young men of color to 
teach in K-through-12 classrooms so that all students have mentors they 
can look up to.
  According to the National Center for Education Statistics, only 2 
percent of teachers in the American public school system are African-
American men, but 20 percent or more of the students are African-
American males.
  Think about that. A lot of these African-American males, frankly, 
haven't had some of the best mentors and role models in their lives 
growing up, and we have so few teachers of color that are minority 
male. The FUTURE Act funding, I think, is a good step for Congress to 
take to bridge that gap. I think it is a good example of how the 
Federal Government supports this critical mission at Delaware State and 
at HBCUs across the country.
  Back in early September, the House of Representatives did its job and 
voted to reauthorize this funding through the bipartisan FUTURE Act. 
Unfortunately, the Senate has not followed the lead of the House in 
this critical funding for HBCUs which lapsed on September 30.
  Before I yield to Senator Coons, I just wanted to say that my 
recollection is--and I might have this wrong, but I am looking for my 
staff, who would be sitting right here in front of me telling me if I 
had the right numbers--that 2 percent of teachers who are in public 
schools in America and I think in Delaware are men of color. They are 
African American. Almost 20 percent, maybe 25 percent, of the students 
in the public school system are people of color and about half of those 
are male. We need to do a better job.
  As Governor, I started a mentoring program. We recruited, when I was 
Governor, 10,000 mentors--a lot of them to work with children of color. 
A lot of them have grown up in homes where they didn't have a positive 
male role model in their life. That is why the mentoring program is so 
important. That is why we especially need minority male teachers who 
are African American. That is not all we need, but it is a big part of 
what we need. Over half of the minority male teachers that we have in 
Delaware in our schools were educated at Delaware State University--
over half--and we need more of them.
  Senator Coons has joined me on the floor. I am enormously proud of 
Delaware State University and the leadership they have today and in the 
past, and proud to have been an honorary Hornet, and proud to yield to 
my colleague, Senator Coons, who has been right there fighting for 
Delaware State University.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. COONS. Madam President, I would like to thank my colleague from 
our home State of Delaware. I come to the floor to join a number of my 
colleagues who are speaking on a pressing issue, the critical lapse in 
funding for hundreds of colleges and universities across our Nation.
  On September 30, $255 million in annual Federal funding for 
historically black colleges and universities and minority-serving 
institutions expired.
  Since this fund was first created, it has supported 400 HBCUs and 
MSIs, historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving 
institutions, across our country, including 97 HBCUs last year. This 
lapse has created real uncertainty and harm to these organizations and 
these universities, their students, their employees, and the public.
  I just wanted to join my colleagues in highlighting the importance of 
this funding. I want to speak specifically to the HBCU of which 
Delaware is so proud--Delaware State University.
  Delaware State is an engine for educational equity and access, for 
innovation and for leadership in our State, our region, and our Nation.
  Delaware State University is one of the country's top public HBCUs. 
Its graduates go on to successful careers in all sorts of industries. 
Graduates from Delaware State have become some of our State's best 
nurses, teachers, business leaders, social workers, and Senate staff.
  DSU's research programs are important drivers for innovation in a 
State with a proud history of invention and innovation. It is home to 
the Delaware Center for Neuroscience Research, a partnership of 
institutions across our State working to advance our understanding of 
how our brains form thoughts and memories and feelings, and how they 
change over time as we age.
  It is also home to OSCAR, the Optical Science Center for Applied 
Research, where research that is in part federally funded is helping to 
speed early detection of disease, supporting our soldiers in better 
deterring and detecting threats, and equipping NASA missions, including 
the Mars Rover, with improved sensors.
  To put it simply, we are very proud of Delaware State, and there is a 
lot of which to be proud. DSU grads are so impressive that I have asked 
several of them to join my staff here in Washington. Their commitment 
to equity and excellence is why we can't allow HBCUs around the 
country, such as Delaware State, to lose out on vitally needed Federal 
funding.
  Last year, this program provided nearly $1 million--$887,000--to 
Delaware State, which is about 20 percent of their title III funding. 
These funds have a direct impact on students and funds critical 
science, math, and educator preparation programs.
  There is no good reason for the Senate to ignore our HBCUs and MSIs 
and deny them the funding they deserve. In September, the House passed 
a bipartisan, budget-neutral, 2-year extension of this critical 
funding, which is known as the FUTURE Act. While I share Senator 
Alexander's commitment to permanently extending this funding, we must 
not ask institutions to put their budgeting and planning on hold while 
we here in the Senate negotiate over many other pressing issues in 
higher education.
  I urge my colleagues to pass the FUTURE Act immediately, and with 
that, I would like to make a motion.
  Madam President, as in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent 
that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 
212, H.R. 2486. I ask unanimous consent that the Murray amendment at 
the desk be agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a 
third time and passed; and that the motions to reconsider be considered 
made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam President, reserving the right to object--and I 
will object--I am disappointed that my colleagues are offering such a 
short-term, piecemeal approach toward resolving the problems of our 
historically Black colleges and minority-serving institutions, when I 
have repeatedly offered a much better idea, and they have blocked it. I 
will offer it again in just a moment. I know the Senator from North 
Carolina is here to speak on the same subject.
  Compared to what I have offered, they are offering a short-term, 2-
year, budget gimmick-supported idea that will have a difficult time 
passing the Senate. What I have offered and they have blocked is 
permanent funding of historically Black colleges and minority-serving 
institutions--permanent funding--at the level of $255 million a year, 
properly funded. That is No. 1. There is assurance from the U.S. 
Department of Education that every single historically Black 
institution--there are 97 of them--have enough funding to go until next 
October. Even the Senate ought to be able to do its job in that period 
of time.
  At the same time, I have offered the Alexander-Jones bill offered by 
the distinguished Senator from Alabama, which would simplify the 
Federal aid application form called the FAFSA for 8 million minority 
students, among 20 million families in this country.
  Why would anybody want to take a short-term, piecemeal approach that 
is based on a budget gimmick that couldn't pass the Senate compared 
with permanent funding for historically Black colleges and a bipartisan 
proposal to change the hated, dreaded FAFSA by reducing the number of 
questions you have to answer from 108 questions to between 18 and 30? 
This

[[Page S6700]]

document is the single biggest impediment to minority students going to 
college in America today, and the Democrats are blocking the passage of 
a bipartisan bill.
  I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The Senator from North Carolina.
  Mr. BURR. Madam President, I want to thank the chairman of the 
committee for objecting. I want to tell my colleagues on the other side 
of the aisle that I appreciate their being here giving the passionate 
speeches they have because they made the case for Senator Alexander's 
bipartisan bill.
  You see, incorporated in this legislation is an initiative by Senator 
Jones and Senator Baldwin. Anybody who makes this out to be a partisan 
piece of legislation is just flat wrong. I have more historical Black 
colleges in North Carolina than any State can claim. When those 
chancellors and presidents have been presented with the question: Do 
you want 2 years or permanent, they all said permanent. They didn't 
know there was a permanent option.
  I say this to my three colleagues because none of them are on the 
committee: There is a permanent option for funding historically Black 
colleges. It is in the chairman's bill. We have been told that the 
FUTURE Act needs to be passed. The FUTURE Act is 2 years long. There is 
not much of a future there. We ought to match its title with the 
chairman's bill because this really does address the future.
  The No. 1 concern of historically Black institutions is 
predictability of funding. The chairman's bill is permanent. We are not 
going to come in here in 2 years and seek another reauthorization, but 
the benefit is that we are passing good legislation.
  Let me point out to my colleagues that it is important to read 
legislation. The FUTURE Act is funded by whacking the funding for the 
State guaranty agencies. By taking away the account maintenance fees 
that these State-based organizations receive to administer loans, we 
are robbing Peter to pay Paul. These same students who are probably 
going to go to historically Black universities are also seeking State-
based loans to do it, and we are providing the institutions 2 years of 
predictability on one side, and we are taking away the fees that are 
needed to administer the loans to allow them to be able to afford it. 
This is when it is important to look at the details.
  The way the FUTURE Act is funded, it actually hurts all institutions 
in North Carolina. Just today, I heard from the North Carolina State 
Education Assistance Authority about how important this funding is for 
their daily functions in administering student loans. So I believe 
there is a better way to extend HBC funding but also not to hurt 
students.
  At the end of the day, our focus--the human face we see is the 
student who benefits from the educational opportunity they have been 
given. I would tell you that the FUTURE Act flunks on all counts. It is 
not permanent. It takes away from some because of how it is funded. We 
have an opportunity with Chairman Alexander's bill, the Student Aid 
Improvement Act, which would extend this title III funding permanently, 
but it would also include other bipartisan support changes in higher 
education, like expanding Pell grants. Every Member of the Senate has 
sat on this floor and said we have to do something on Pell grants. Here 
is your opportunity.
  It doesn't fit in the timeframe of passing a bill that passed the 
House that provides 2 years of funding, but we have a bipartisan piece 
of legislation. It simplifies the financial student financial aid 
process. You saw the chairman hold up the form. There is nobody who can 
defend the continuation of that form. It should be one page. The 
chairman of the Education Committee has tried for now 5 years to 
transition that to one page. You might look at us and say: Well, we can 
do this very quickly, but we need time to talk about this. We have 
taken 5 years to do this, and the people on the committee know this.
  This is the sixth time you have come to the floor and asked unanimous 
consent to do the exact same thing: Pass this; don't look at anything 
else.
  No, that is wrong, but it is not wrong because we are in the 
majority. It is wrong because it is not serving the students for whom 
we are supposed to be here setting policy. It simplifies aid award 
letters to students. It is actually easy to tell them they got their 
student aid. It is cumbersome. If you are on the committee, you 
understand the agony they go through. We are wiping all of that away.
  I believe Chairman Alexander has a better path. I also would like to 
remind my colleagues that while this funding should be extended, there 
has been no lapse. Let me state that again. It should be extended, and 
there has been no lapse.
  Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to have a letter I received 
from Secretary DeVos, stating that the title III funding in question is 
available through September 2021, be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                   The Secretary of Education,

                                  Washington, DC, October 9, 2019.
       Dear [Redacted] I write to clarify the status of grants 
     under Title III, Part F of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 
     in light of the enactment of the Continuing Appropriations 
     Act, 2020, and Health Extenders Act of 2019 (Pub. L. No. 116-
     59), signed on September 27, 2019.
       Initially, I want to note that the new law has no effect on 
     funds that we recently awarded in the Title III, Part F 
     programs. Funds obligated in fiscal year (FY) 2019 have 
     already been made available to grantees under all Part F 
     programs in the Department of Education's (Department) G5 
     System for the project period beginning on October 1, 2019, 
     and ending on September 30, 2020. Those funds will remain 
     available to grantees for allowable uses during this period. 
     In addition, in the Part F programs that award grants 
     competitively, the Department has carried over FY 2019 funds 
     into FY 2020 to support noncompeting continuation awards and 
     supplements for project periods from October 1, 2020, through 
     September 30, 2021.
       The Department's ability to make additional formula grants 
     in FY 2020 under Part F for Historically Black Colleges and 
     Universities (HBCUs) and Tribally Controlled Colleges and 
     Universities, and to conduct new competitions for FY 2021, 
     depends on the availability of congressionally appropriated 
     funds. However, this will have no bearing on the grant funds 
     that have already been made available to grantees for the 
     next 12 months.
       This Administration is committed to each and every HBCU and 
     other minority-serving institutions and the important work 
     they do in educating historically underrepresented student 
     populations. If you have any questions about these programs, 
     please reach out to your program officer in the Department's 
     Office of Postsecondary Education.
           Sincerely,
                                                      Betsy DeVos.

  Mr. BURR. On that basis alone, there is not the sense of urgency that 
some have come to the floor six times and suggested. I don't disagree 
with any of my colleagues that this is something we need to do now, but 
a 2-year temporary bill that doesn't accomplish any of the other 
reforms when we have had 5 years of bipartisan work--why would we not 
take this option? Why would we not sit down and find a way for Chairman 
Alexander's bill--which has many Democratic initiatives in it--to pass 
and provide historically Black colleges and universities with permanent 
funding, provide students with a one-page form to fill out for student 
aid, provide an expedited way for the notification when their loans 
have been approved? We are there, but for some reason, some want us to 
do a 2-year temporary fix. It is wrong. I thank the chairman for 
objecting.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam President, I see the Senator from Ohio. I intend 
to offer my alternative to which, I gather, someone plans to object. I 
will go ahead and do that unless he wants to speak at this point.
  Mr. BROWN. Go ahead, Senator Alexander.