[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 200 (Monday, December 1, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H4909-H4910]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 NURSING EXCLUDED AS ``PROFESSIONAL'' DEGREE BY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

  (Mr. Courtney of Connecticut was recognized to address the House for 
5 minutes.)
  Mr. COURTNEY. Madam Speaker, as this headline from Newsweek magazine 
reports, a few weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Education issued 
probably the most out-of-touch, offensive new rule in the history of 
the Department, excluding nursing from its definition of ``professional 
occupations,'' part of its new graduate student loan program, which was 
created by the one big, ugly bill.
  For the 4.7 million actively registered nurses and the 250,000 
students enrolled in bachelor's, master's, and doctoral nursing 
programs across the United States, this decree that they are not 
professionals is both a disgraceful insult that shocks the conscience 
and an order which will condemn America's nurses into second-class 
status for Federal graduate student loan assistance.
  Madam Speaker, this legal demotion is happening at a time when our 
country is experiencing a nursing shortage. The Bureau of Labor 
Statistics reports that we have 195,000 unfilled nursing positions in 
this country. The Department of Health and Human Services goes even 
higher. It says that it is 280,000. McKinsey & Company, a respected 
think tank, predicts that the shortage will grow to 400,000 by the end 
of this decade.
  Madam Speaker, Members of this House don't really need to spend much 
time reading these reports to know that that shortage is real. Just go 
to any hospital, nursing home, or health clinic in your district, and 
you will hear the same thing: they are short-staffed in ERs, exam 
rooms, operating rooms, and on the floors. Short-staffing is bad for 
patients, and it is bad for nursing burnout.
  Despite this blindingly obvious reality, the Education Department's 
designation is putting a hard cap of $100,000, with no indexing, on 
graduate student loans for nurses, all part of the One Big Beautiful 
Bill Act, which my Republican colleagues passed in June. It is a 
healthcare monstrosity, which cut $1 trillion from Medicaid, cut out 
premium subsidies for 22 million Americans for their healthcare 
exchange plans, and now will suffocate the growth of our Nation's 
caring professions.
  If you doubt my words, then maybe you will listen to the president of 
the American Nursing Association, the largest nursing professional 
organization in America. Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, the president, 
states: ``Nurses make up the largest segment of the healthcare 
workforce and [are] the backbone of our Nation's health system. At a 
time when healthcare in our country faces a historic nurse shortage and 
rising demands, limiting nurses' access to funding for graduate school 
threatens the very foundation of patient care.''
  Well said.
  Madam Speaker, ANA is doing more. They have organized a petition 
drive because this rule goes into effect next July. As of the middle of 
last week, they had 180,000 signatures, and that will grow.
  Madam Speaker, it definitely will grow in the coming days. Every 
Member of this House--and I will be one of them--should write to the 
Department of Education saying that this rule makes no sense in terms 
of the healthcare system today and, also, is an insult to the people 
who go through extensive training, testing, and certification before 
they are allowed to practice their caring profession.
  While we are at it, we should also help the other professions which 
were excluded by the Department of Education: physician assistants, 
physical therapists, audiologists, speech-language pathologists, 
architects, accountants, advanced degree educators, social workers, 
dental hygienists, and occupational therapists.
  This proposal by the Department of Education is madness, and Congress 
should actually do more than just support the regulatory process in 
terms of reversing these rules. We should also go back and revisit the 
One Big Beautiful Bill Act and recognize, again, what our healthcare 
sector is telling us: We are risking the financial solvency of 
institutions all across America, and, again, we are damaging our

[[Page H4910]]

future in terms of getting young, motivated people to join the 
healthcare professions.

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