[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 95 (Wednesday, May 20, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2537-S2538]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  FOR-PROFIT COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, this week Congress submitted to the 
President the bipartisan Congressional Review Act resolution that 
overturned Education Secretary DeVos's borrower defense rule.
  The rule that she came up with at the Department of Education makes 
it almost impossible for student loan borrowers, including many, many 
veterans, who have been defrauded by their schools--these are usually 
for-profit schools--to have Federal student debt discharged because of 
the fraud under the Higher Education Act's borrower defense provisions.
  Ten Republicans joined with the Democrats in March to reject this 
rule in the Senate and pass this resolution. I thank those on the other 
side of the aisle who stood up for the veterans and for students who 
have been defrauded.
  I urge President Trump to sign this bill without delay. More 
importantly than my urging, 30 different veteran organizations urged 
the President to sign our resolution. We are going to be giving a lot 
of speeches about veterans on the Senate floor and back home over 
Memorial Day weekend. Here is a chance for the President to stand up

[[Page S2538]]

for the veterans on Memorial Day weekend.
  In a March 13 letter to President Trump, these veterans asked him to 
ensure ``that the men and women who served their country honorably are 
not burdened with student loans that result from fraud.''
  I ask unanimous consent that the March 13 letter to President Trump 
be printed in the Record
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                   March 13, 2020.
     Hon. Donald J. Trump,
     The White House,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear President Trump: In August 2019, you stood with 
     veterans in directing the Education Department to ensure that 
     all totally and permanently disabled veterans would have 
     their student loans forgiven. We were so grateful to you 
     then. We write now to ask that you please stand with 
     servicemembers, veterans, their families, and survivors again 
     in supporting a bipartisan resolution, H.J. Res 76, which 
     would help veterans and military-connected students get 
     relief from student loans they incurred as a result of fraud.
       With a bipartisan vote in both the Senate and the House of 
     Representatives, it is clear the support of Congress for 
     veterans, servicemembers, and their families and survivors 
     stands above partisan politics.
       Please join us in ensuring that the men and women who have 
     served their country honorably are not burdened with student 
     loans that result from fraud. This has been an important 
     priority for veterans organizations as reflected in a letter 
     from 27 veterans organizations to the Education Department 
     and a letter from 37 veterans organizations to Congress.
       We appreciate your support.
           Sincerely,
       Air Force Sergeants Association; Army Aviation Association 
     of America; Association of the United States Navy; AMSUS, the 
     Society of Federal Health Professionals; Blue Star Families; 
     Chief Warrant & Warrant Officers Association, U.S. Coast 
     Guard; Code of Support Foundation; Fleet Reserve Association; 
     High Ground Veterans Advocacy; Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans 
     of America; Ivy League Veterans Council; Norman Rosenshein, 
     Jewish War Veterans of the USA.
       The Military Chaplains Assn. of the USA; John Ballantyne, 
     Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Military 
     Child Education Coalition; Dana T. Atkins, Military Officers 
     Association of America; Douglas J. Greenlaw, Military Order 
     of the Purple Heart; National Military Family Association; 
     Non Commissioned Officers Assn. of the United States of 
     America; Service to School; Service Women's Action Network; 
     Student Veterans of America; Swords to Plowshares; Laura 
     L'Esperance, The Mission Continues.
       Kenneth Greenberg, The Retired Enlisted Association; 
     Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors; Randy Reid, U.S. 
     Coast Guard Chief Petty Officers Association & Enlisted 
     Association; Veterans Education Success; Danielle Applegate, 
     Vets First; Veterans for Common Sense; Robert F. Muth, 
     Veterans Legal Clinic, University of San Diego School of Law; 
     Veterans Student Loan Relief Fund; Vietnam Veterans of 
     America.

  Mr. DURBIN. President Trump has the opportunity to be the one who 
rescues these defrauded veterans from a rule that the American Legion 
has entitled ``fundamentally rigged against defrauded borrowers'' and 
give these Americans who served our country not just a pat on the back 
but a chance to get back in the game in their lives.
  American voters are behind us, overwhelmingly, from both political 
parties. New polling by Third Way finds that voters in key red and 
swing States believe that the Federal Government should not make 
students who took out loans to attend fraudulent or misleading 
institutions of higher education pay back those loans.
  In Ohio, 73 percent of voters believed this, 68 percent in Indiana, 
64 percent in Colorado, 63 percent Pennsylvania, 61 percent Missouri 
and North Carolina, and 60 percent South Carolina. When asked if 
schools that mislead student borrowers should be held accountable, the 
numbers are dramatically higher, and 95 percent of Republicans in North 
Carolina agree and 91 percent of Republicans in South Carolina. The 
list goes on.
  The DeVos borrower defense rule would make it impossible for 
defrauded borrowers to get the relief that the American people and I 
believe they deserve. It will lessen accountability for the schools 
that defrauded these borrowers. They are just going to do it again. God 
forbid we loan these defrauding schools money in the current economic 
crisis so they can continue to defraud veterans and other students.
  This isn't a controversial issue among the American people, just 
among politicians. By signing this resolution, President Trump will be 
supporting America's veterans, Democratic and Republican voters. I hope 
he listens.

                          ____________________