[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 15] [House] [Pages 19753-19757] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]STUDENT GRANT HURRICANE AND DISASTER RELIEF ACT Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3668) to provide the Secretary of Education with waiver authority for students who are eligible for Federal student grant assistance who are adversely affected by a major disaster. The Clerk read as follows: H.R. 3668 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 ``Student Grant Hurricane and Disaster Relief Act''. SEC. 2. WAIVERS OF STUDENT GRANT ASSISTANCE REPAYMENT BY STUDENTS AFFECTED BY DISASTERS. Section 484B(b)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1091b(b)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: ``(E) Waivers of grant assistance repayment by students affected by disasters.--In addition to the waivers authorized by subparagraph (D), the Secretary may waive the amounts that students are required to return under this section with respect to any other grant assistance under this title if the withdrawals on which the returns are based are withdrawals by students-- ``(i) who were residing in, employed in, or attending an institution of higher education that is located in an area in which the President has declared that a major disaster exists, in accordance with section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170); ``(ii) whose attendance was interrupted because of the impact of the disaster on the student or the institution; and ``(iii) whose withdrawal ended within the academic year during which the designation occurred or during the next succeeding academic year.''. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Boustany) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Kildee) each will control 20 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Boustany). General Leave Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 3668. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Louisiana? There was no objection. Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill to provide additional relief to students whose higher education plans have been put on hold as a result of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. Yesterday, the House unanimously approved a bill to ensure that students who were forced to withdraw from college because of a natural disaster are not forced to repay Pell grant aid. I think that bill will provide critical relief to students who are already facing tremendous hardships as a result of this tragedy. I am pleased today to be taking the next critical step by providing this type of flexibility and protection for students receiving all types of grant aid under title IV of the Higher Education Act. {time} 1230 We need to provide the Secretary of Education the utmost flexibility to meet the needs of students who have lost their homes and communities, and that is exactly what this bill will do. [[Page 19754]] Each year millions of American students gain access to higher education with the help of Federal student aid. The Federal Government is providing more than $73 billion in direct financial aid to students for fiscal year 2005 in order to ensure college access for students from all walks of life. I am proud of our tremendous investment in higher education. Unfortunately, the tragic events of the scope like that which we are seeing on the Gulf Coast were not anticipated in the structure of the Federal student aid programs. The Department of Education lacks the flexibility to waive student aid repayment requirements for students who are forced to withdraw from higher education as a result of a natural disaster. Waiver authority does exist within student loan programs, and yesterday we provided similar flexibility within the Pell grant program. Today, we are addressing the remaining discrepancy for other types of student financial aid that play a critical role in providing college access to low- and middle-income students. The bill will protect students from being forced to repay other types of grant aid under title IV of the Higher Education Act. Some examples of the types of programs protected under this bill would be TRIO, GEAR UP, and the Supplemental Educational Opportunity grants. Mr. Speaker, this bill is but one small step in what will be a comprehensive, long-term relief effort. However, for many students and families this bill will provide critical relief as they work to rebuild their homes and lives and, ultimately, as they do return to higher education in the future. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I supported the Keller bill to offer relief to Pell grant recipients affected by natural disasters. I rise today to support the Jindal bill to offer relief to those benefiting from other Title IV grant programs like TRIO, LEAP and HEP/CAMP. It is vital that grant recipients affected by this tragedy be spared the further hardship of repaying a grant they were never able to benefit from. This bill represents a good first step and I am pleased to be a cosponsor. There is no question that we need to reassess what students and families can actually pay for college after the disaster, since many have lost jobs, homes, resources and valuables. In addition, we must also address the needs of student borrowers stuck paying loans despite job loss, lost income, and other financial hardship. The 100,000 low- and middle-income students who depend on loans will feel the financial crunch of Katrina. Furthermore, we must address the needs of students with parents in the affected area, but who are attending schools in other parts of the country. Thousands of affected students and graduates will be unable to make payments on their Stafford or Perkins loans. Currently, Mr. Speaker, students in repayment who are suffering from economic hardship can seek deferment, but we must cut the red tape by allowing any student impacted by a natural disaster to receive an automatic deferment of both the accumulation of interest and the payments. The Miller/Kildee Katrina College Relief Act does just that. This change would save the average borrower much over the life of their loan. Graduates already struggling to dig themselves out of their student loan debt must not be penalized because of this tragedy. Enrolled students who are currently receiving Federal aid had their financial aid package calculated based on their expected family contributions, the so-called EFC, which includes parent contributions and contributions of working students. With hundreds of thousands unemployed, including the one in five undergraduates who were working more than 30 hours a week to support themselves, the calculated expected family contribution may no longer be realistic. The Miller/Kildee Katrina College Relief Act allows these students to have their EFC student aid packages readjusted to reflect the financial changes the family may have suffered. Affected families have limited resources to aid their recovery. The little that they do have needs to go toward rebuilding their homes and lives, Mr. Speaker, but this should not mean that their children should have to put their education on the back burner. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that the majority leadership has decided to take up the issue of college students impacted by this tragedy. Yet, comprehensive relief is necessary for all students with the financial hardship. While I support these efforts and commend the majority for doing this, I hope Congress will soon consider a more comprehensive package like the Miller/Kildee Katrina College Relief Act. An extraordinary catastrophe, and this indeed is extraordinary, demands an extraordinary solution. With over 100,000 students from many institutions displaced, Congress must do more. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Jindal). Mr. JINDAL. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Boustany) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner) for allowing this bill to move so quickly and their time today. An awful thing happened in my district and an awful thing happened in Louisiana, in Mississippi, and in Alabama. The people of my district, the people of my State, the people of the Gulf Coast have been hit not once but three different times. Many of them that survived the original Hurricane Katrina were then hit by the rising flood waters due to a levee that broke, a levee that is actually located within my district and just a few miles from my home. Many people that survived the rising flood waters were then victimized a third time by the awful acts of a small number of looters, of people committing violence, and also a lack of basic food, shelter and medicines. We, as a body, owe it to these people to make sure they are not victimized yet again, a fourth time. That is why I am so proud to be able to sponsor this legislation with so many co-sponsors. That is why I am so proud of my chairman, of the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Boustany), and the others that have seen and understood the potentially devastating impact this hurricane might have on thousands of students and their families. Many students attending colleges and universities when the hurricane hit have now found it necessary to withdraw from college due to the impact the storm has had on their homes, job, and families. Indeed, many universities in the city of New Orleans are still struggling to figure out how or whether they are going to resume classes in the fall. Not every institution has decided to offer fall classes. So not only are families displaced, not only are many families without their homes, their possessions, many universities and colleges have not yet figured out how they are going to resume or when they are going to resume their instructions. Indeed, many of these institutions, many of these administrators have not been able to go back and inspect their buildings, inspect the damage, to even know what is left. The records, the buildings, the facilities, many of them are still unreachable and still inaccessible. Under current law, the Higher Education Act and our Federal financial aid regulations require the schools determine whether students need to refund a portion of the Federal aid they receive in the case of a withdrawal. Our current regulations certainly did not anticipate I think this kind of catastrophe. The rationale behind the bill we have crafted, my bill, was to do it narrowly and responsibly to protect low-income students who are forced to withdraw from school because of a federally declared natural disaster. My bill would [[Page 19755]] grant the Secretary of Education the waiver authority for purposes of the return of title IV formula funds in the case of a natural disaster in case that natural disaster adversely impacts title IV grant and scholarship recipients and forces them to withdraw from their institution of higher education. Yesterday, I was proud of this House for passing the Keller bill that grants similar waiver authority for the return of Pell grant funds also in the case of a natural disaster. This bill goes a step further. That is a great first step. This bill builds on that bill. This bill allows us to go a step further and provides waiver authority for additional scholarship and grant funds under title IV. What do I mean by that? This includes funds like TRIO scholarships, GEAR UP money, Byrd Scholarships, LEAP funds. This bill, in essence, gives the Secretary of Education the ability to exercise the waiver authority in the event of a natural disaster declared by the President. It is the same authority that exists for the student loan program. This waiver authority also exists currently for institutions of higher education; similar waiver authority exists for institutions of higher education that are adversely impacted by natural disasters. However, even though there is waiver authority for loans, even though there is waiver authority for the institutions, there is currently no authority for the Secretary of Education to work with the Nation's neediest students in times of catastrophe caused by natural disasters. This authority is important. It allows the Secretary of Education to ensure that our Nation's neediest students are not put in a worse financial situation where they are forced to withdraw from a natural disaster. In a previous position, I actually served as the President of the University of Louisiana, the University of Louisiana system. In that system was Delgado Community College. Delgado was located in one of the areas most severely impacted, quite literally in the heart of New Orleans, most severely impacted by the rising waters, by the hurricane. Also in my system was the Southeastern University, Southeastern Louisiana University, another university located in a region that was hit fairly hard. To their credit, the faculty, the president, the staff have been focused on rescue and recovery efforts. Southeastern has opened up its dorms to house those that had nowhere else to go. They are working with students to welcome them back to campus, sometimes allowing them to bring their families who are otherwise homeless, allowing them to bend the rules to meet human needs. I think we as a body have an obligation to do the same thing. Instead of just sticking to the red tape, sticking to the rules, we have an obligation to be flexible, to be responsive, to help these neediest students in their time of need. I am proud of the chairman. I am proud of the different cosponsors. I certainly hope that this passes later today with a unanimous vote from this body to send a strong bipartisan message that we want to help students in need; we do not want them to be victims again. They have suffered through a hurricane. They have suffered through a flood. They have suffered enough. Let us not make them victims a fourth time. Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Speaker, I commend the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Jindal) for his bill and I look forward to working with him on even broader relief. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis). Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Kildee) for yielding me time. I also want to commend the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Jindal) for his introduction of this bill, which allows the Secretary of Education to waive grant and scholarships awarded under title IV of the Higher Education Act for students forced to withdraw from classes due to a natural disaster. By applying to title IV, the bill grants relief to students in the greatest need of financial support in assessing higher education. It also covers students receiving Pell grants, TRIO scholarships, Supplemental Educational Opportunities grants, GEAR UP grants, Byrd scholarships and LEAP funds. Without action, these students would face incredible financial hardship because they would be responsible for repaying funds at a time of incredible economic and personal difficulty. Without action, we would be erecting barriers in their pursuit of their education. We need to promote education in every way that we can. And I also support this bill as a first step to helping students overcome the barriers to education imposed by the horrific storm. In addition, I strongly encourage my colleagues to take additional steps to ease the educational burdens of Katrina. The Miller/Kildee Katrina College Relief Act also grants, and I think it gives us an opportunity to go even further, 6-month deferments to students, and directs the Secretary to recalculate the expected family income that they could contribute to college in light of the catastrophe. These are excellent provisions that would greatly assist the hundreds of thousands of students and families struggling after Katrina. Again, I want to commend the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Boustany) for his introduction of this legislation. I also want to commend the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner), the chairman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the ranking member, the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller), for the expeditious manner in which the Committee on Education and the Workforce has addressed the educational needs of students who have been affected by Katrina. It is a good bill. I support it. Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner), the chairman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce. Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, let me thank my colleague from Louisiana (Mr. Boustany) for yielding me time. I rise in strong support of this bill to provide additional relief to the victims of Hurricane Katrina who have been forced to withdraw from institutions of higher education as they work to rebuild their homes and their community. The tragedy that has befallen the Gulf Coast region in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the level of devastation and its impact on American families is truly staggering; and our prayers remain with the residents of that region as well as those who are working on relief and this recovery effort. {time} 1245 We are working closely with the Department of Education to determine how we can best meet the needs of the children, families, teachers, and schools that have been impacted by this tragedy. We have identified an immediate need for action to assist students pursuing higher education who are forced to withdraw because of the devastation caused by the hurricane, and that is why we are taking action today. I want to thank the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Jindal) for introducing this bill to provide additional flexibility for students struggling to cope with this unprecedented natural disaster. The bill complements the measure offered yesterday by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Keller) to protect students forced to withdraw from higher education as a result of a natural disaster. This bill will give the Secretary of Education a new flexibility to waive burdensome requirements on students impacted by this or other natural disasters. The bill would ensure students forced to withdraw from higher education because of natural disaster would not be forced to repay their Federal student grant aid, alleviating what could be a major burden for students already coping with this disaster. This type of waiver authority that we granted yesterday and then again today already exists for the student loan programs and is being provided yesterday by the gentleman from Florida's (Mr. Keller) bill for Pell grants [[Page 19756]] and then today by the gentleman from Louisiana's (Mr. Jindal) bill that would allow the Secretary waiver authority for those who may receive grant programs and scholarship programs such as GEAR UP, TRIO, and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants. As we assess the damage in the weeks and months ahead, we will be working with our leadership and our colleagues across the aisle to provide additional resources and additional flexibility to the communities impacted by this tragedy to make sure that all the resources of the Federal Government are available to help each and every American that has been affected. So, once again, I want to thank the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Jindal), the bill's sponsor, for his work and urge my colleagues to support the bill today. Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt). Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Michigan for the time. As we look at repairs of levees and improving public health mechanisms and so forth, many Americans might not realize that there are other things we must tend to. I applaud the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Jindal) for recognizing that we need to help those who are in the midst of their education. This legislation is a good first step on the floor. I think that the legislation offered by the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Kildee) and the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller) and others of us that deals with readjusting what families are expected to pay for college for the current term and making it more than optional for a university to recalculate families contributions and providing deferment of 6 months for student borrowers, those additional steps I think would be very important. I particularly commend to this body the legislation that is offered by the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Kildee) and the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller) and others of us, and I hope that those provisions can be added. I nevertheless want to strongly support what the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Jindal) has done. It will help many students who are disrupted, whose education would otherwise be disrupted by these activities. Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee). Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from Michigan for the time. I might want to take a moment just to say that I cannot thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Kildee) enough for his commitment to education. I thank my good friend from Louisiana. It looks like we meet again, trying to improve the lives of so many that I know that you wish we in Texas were not housing, but we thank you so very much for sharing some of the very best people that we have ever had an opportunity to meet. I want to say that particularly because this legislation is the kind of legislation that I believe should be on the floor every single day as we move toward Thanksgiving. Just imagine what life will be like for these survivors. Thanksgiving, the Christmas holiday, religious holidays that are coming, and literally the town of New Orleans, Biloxi, and places in Alabama have been obliterated by this horrific tragedy. Many of us have spoken to the issues of an inquiry that we support to find out what happened and when. Many of us have spoken about issues dealing with first responders and why and when and how they could have performed. Many of us have discussed FEMA and discussed the idea of the impact of the military, but all of us are committed to the lives of the victims, those who live, those who have survived; and each step of the way we must move expeditiously to make them the focal point of this business of this Congress. We may disagree and my colleagues will see us vigorously disagree on the performance of this government, whether or not it collapsed, whether or not we should apologize to the American people; but today, we are going to continue to stand here and unite around a solution. The Katrina College Relief Act is that solution. It helps the very colleges that are impacted ultimately and the families. We know there are an array of universities in the region. I know of two in particular that impact my community, Dillard and Southern University in New Orleans. We are finding that my university, one of my universities, Texas Southern University, will be taking in students. The University of Houston will be taking in Tulane students, and others are finding their way across our cities and States across America. So giving the Secretary of Education authority to waive the amounts of student grants such as Pell and TRIO will be vital in terms of students who have to withdraw from school. Directing the Secretary of Education to immediately readjust how much these families are expected to pay will be vital toward continuing a child's education. Providing student borrowers who live in the affected areas with 6 months of deferment is vital for the survival of these families. Might I say that I hope we will come to the floor again dealing with the under-21 age group. We know that there are thousands of children in the Texas area, in the Houston area under the age of 15. We have visited in those respective shelters, late into the night, visiting with families, with babies as young as 1 month old, children who are 9 and 10, 13, 14, and 15, who are now living their lives in temporary housing and/or in shelters. There has to be a focus, possibly of a one-time grant, for the enormous impact on the children of this region, on the children of America. So this first step dealing with the Katrina College Relief Act, and I applaud the sponsors of this legislation, leaders of this legislation, is just one statement that we are focused on America's children and America's future and that, in fact, those located in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama and the impact regions have our attention. We will not only address the questions of education but we will also fix the provisions that will allow us to directly pay those victims so they can get housing under FEMA and Housing and Urban Development. This is a good start. It is a plus direction for us to take. It is a unifying direction for us to take; but Mr. Speaker, we have many miles to travel, and I would like to be able to offer ultimately legislation dealing with the children who have been impacted by Katrina. Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. First of all, I appreciate very much the very expeditious way in which the majority has approached this problem and look forward to working with them to seek an even more comprehensive way. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time. Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I thank the gentleman from Michigan for his cooperation in this. This bill represents a small, but certain, step toward comprehensive recovery; and I urge its passage. Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield? Mr. BOUSTANY. I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas. Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask to be added as a sponsor of this legislation, and I have to ask before the gentleman finally closes it out, as a cosponsor. Mr. BOUSTANY. Yes. Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mrs. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I support this bill. Hurricane Katrina has devastated children, parents, teachers and schools from all over our country. The school year has just started, and now thousands upon thousands of students have been displaced. Those which are lucky enough to have been able to begin school in other locations are still [[Page 19757]] dealing with the turmoil of being uprooted not only from their homes but also their community, friends, and classmates. The instability of their situations must be incredibly difficult and painful to deal with. Education is one of the most important things we can provide our students with, and it is so important to take care of our young people in this horrible time. Yesterday we passed a bill which would provide a waiver for Pell Grants. Today we are going to pass a bill which will waive other Title IV requirements to other programs such as TRIO, Academic Achievement Incentive Scholarship, Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CAMPIS), Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG), Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (LEAP/SLEAP), High School Equivalency Program (HEP), College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP), and the Robert Byrd Scholarship Program. These are good first starts, but in the coming days we need to do even more. Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ryan of Wisconsin). The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Boustany) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3668. The question was taken. The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of those present have voted in the affirmative. Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays. The yeas and nays were ordered. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. ____________________