[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 15]
[House]
[Pages 20730-20732]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    EXTENSION OF WAIVER AUTHORITY WITH RESPECT TO STUDENT FINANCIAL 
                               ASSISTANCE

  Mr. KLINE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2132) to extend the waiver authority of the Secretary of 
Education with respect to student financial assistance during a war or 
other military operation or national emergency.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2132

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF WAIVER AUTHORITY.

       Section 6 of the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for 
     Students Act of 2003 (20 U.S.C. 1070, note) is amended by 
     striking ``September 30, 2005'' and inserting ``September 30, 
     2007''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Kline) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Kline).


                             General Leave

  Mr. KLINE. Madam 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. 2132.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Minnesota?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. KLINE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2132, legislation to 
extend the waiver authority of the Secretary of Education with respect 
to student financial assistance during a war or other military 
operation or national emergency. This legislation, Madam Speaker, 
simply extends beyond September 30 of this year the provisions of the 
HEROES Act of 2003, legislation I introduced 2 years ago, which 
expresses the support and commitment of the United States House of 
Representatives for the troops who protect and defend the United 
States.
  Madam Speaker, throughout our involvement in the war on terrorism, 
many thousands of men and women who serve our Nation in the Reserves or 
National Guard or the Armed Forces, whether Army, Marine Corps, Navy, 
Air Force or Coast Guard, have been called to active duty or active 
service. As our Nation seeks to rebuild the communities devastated by 
Hurricane Katrina, many more of our men and women in uniform have been 
asked to serve.
  Many of these men and women are also college and university students 
whose service sends them away from their class and work and studies to 
defend our Nation. Unfortunately, due to a number of restrictions in 
the Higher Education Act, these individuals are at risk of losing 
financial assistance or educational credit as a result of their 
service.
  Such a scenario is clearly not acceptable. The HEROES Act helps 
protect our men and women in uniform so they will not face education-
related financial or administrative difficulties while they defend our 
Nation. The men and women who will continue to serve beyond the end of 
this month deserve the same guarantee.
  The intent of this legislation is very specific. Congress has granted 
flexibility to the Secretary of Education to waive statutory or 
regulatory conditions of the Higher Education Act to ensure our men and 
women in uniform are not placed in an adverse financial position 
because of their service. This waiver authority gives the Secretary the 
power to protect recipients of student financial assistance from 
further financial difficulty generated when they are called to serve; 
minimize administrative requirements without affecting the integrity of 
the programs; and adjust the calculation used to determine financial 
need to accurately reflect the financial condition of the individual 
and his or her family.
  Madam Speaker, the HEROES Act was approved 2 years ago by an 
overwhelming majority of 421 to 1. Today's extension simply reinforces 
Congress' commitment to our military, our students, our families and 
our schools.
  I urge my colleagues to stand in strong support of this initiative 
and join me in voting ``yes'' on H.R. 2132.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1445

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the HEROS Act introduced by 
my colleague from Minnesota, and I want to commend him on this 
legislation. It is a good bill and it is an important bill.
  However, I must say that I am disappointed that we are not using this 
opportunity today to further strengthen the support we are providing to 
our men and women fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. We can 
and should be doing better.
  As you heard, the bill before us allows the Secretary of Education 
the opportunity, the authority to ensure that those men and women 
serving in Iraq who have Federal student loans not have to make 
payments on those loans while they are serving overseas, while they are 
in combat, and while they are on active duty.
  But the problem is this: while they are on active duty, while they do 
not have to make payments, the interest payments on those loans 
continues to accrue and accumulate. So, then, that man or woman, the 
soldier, comes back to the United States owing a larger bill than when 
he or she was deployed.
  For example, if you left for Iraq or Afghanistan owing $20,000 in 
Federal student loans and you were there for a period of time, and your 
loan interest payments accumulated $2,000, you would return home owing 
$22,000 instead of the $20,000 payment you faced when you left.
  That is why the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) and I have introduced 
legislation to allow those men and women to defer any interest payments 
during that period. So when you were deployed, you would truly have a 
time out on your loan. For example, if you left owing $20,000, you 
would return owing $20,000.
  It is our belief that while our men and women are serving our Nation

[[Page 20731]]

overseas, they should not actually be at the same time accumulating 
greater interest on those Federal student loans during that period of 
time. Our bill would make it mandatory that the Secretary of Education 
make sure they did not come back owing more than when they left.
  Moreover, the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne), the gentleman 
from Ohio (Mr. Ryan), and myself introduced an amendment to the Higher 
Education Act that would do exactly what I just described. It was taken 
up by the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and the committee 
adopted that amendment that said not only should we say you do not have 
to make your scheduled payments but during that period of time that you 
are deployed, interest will not accrue.
  I was very pleased that on a bipartisan basis the Committee on 
Education and the Workforce adopted that amendment. The problem is 
this: that amendment is sitting in a queue. It is sitting in a line 
here waiting for the air traffic controllers to move it to the front of 
the line. And who knows what will happen to the higher education bill 
in the Senate. They are way behind the House in that area. So there is 
no reason for us to wait. This was an opportunity to make that change 
and make it today.
  It is especially important for those who are in the Reserves and 
National Guard, who, when they are deployed, are often making a much 
larger income here in the United States than the salary they are 
receiving as soldiers overseas. So they had the income while they were 
here at work to make these payments, and now they are deployed overseas 
at lower income, yet those interest payments continue to accrue.
  For that reason, I would have thought this was a terrific opportunity 
to address that shortcoming in this bill. This is a good bill, but a 
bill that we can certainly make better; and there is no reason we could 
not do it today. The only reason we cannot do it today is this bill has 
been brought up under a procedure that does not allow the gentleman 
from Ohio and myself and others to offer that amendment, an amendment 
which, as I say, received bipartisan support in the Committee on 
Education and the Workforce.
  So, Madam Speaker, I had hoped we would have addressed that now, and 
I am disappointed we did not. I will support this bill, because I think 
it is a good bill. I just think we could have used this opportunity to 
make it even better.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. KLINE. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the 
aforementioned gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne).
  Mr. OSBORNE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me 
this time, and I am pleased to speak in support of the Higher Education 
Relief Opportunities for Students, or HEROS, Act. As has been stated, 
this was enacted September 12 of 2001, somewhat in response to events 
of 9/11; and it provides relief from student loan debt for Reservists 
and National Guardsmen called to active duty while still in college.
  This bill expires in about 2 weeks, September 30, 2005; so it is only 
appropriate that the gentleman from Minnesota has introduced H.R. 2132, 
which extends the law for another 2 years. We currently have many 
Guardsmen and Reservists who are still being called up out of college, 
some to battle Hurricane Katrina; but many more are serving in Iraq and 
Afghanistan. Many Members of Congress, myself included, have been to 
Iraq and Afghanistan many times, and I continue to be amazed at their 
competence and their willingness to sacrifice; and I guess this is the 
least that we can do to help them understand how much they are 
appreciated.
  This bill also encourages colleges and universities to provide a full 
tuition refund for students called up during a semester. It does not 
mandate it, but I think this is an important provision of the bill. As 
mentioned by the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen), in addition 
I have worked with the chairman, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner), 
and the gentleman from Maryland to insert language in the higher 
education bill, which recently passed out of the Committee on Education 
and the Workforce, which would extend relief from interest on student 
loan payments for active duty soldiers called to active duty after 
leaving college; and of course the HEROS Act would not cover those 
because it refers only to those who are in college.
  So I look forward to working with the chairman on implementation of 
this provision as we further consider the higher ed bill at a future 
date, and again I wish to thank the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. 
Kline) for his provision here and the chairman for his work.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. KLINE. Madam Speaker, I am now very pleased to yield such time as 
he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner), chairman of 
the Committee on Education and the Workforce.
  Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this bill to extend 
assistance for the men and women serving in the military by continuing 
to provide student aid flexibility; and I want to applaud the gentleman 
from Minnesota (Mr. Kline) for his leadership in providing flexibility 
and support for military personnel.
  I would also like to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. McKeon) 
for his continued support for higher education and his leadership along 
with the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Kline) to protect the interests 
of members of the armed services.
  The gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller) and the gentleman 
from Michigan (Mr. Kildee), on the other side of the aisle, have worked 
closely with us on this bill. And because it does expire at the end of 
this month, we do, in fact, need to extend it.
  The Higher Education Act, which we will extend after we deal with 
this bill, deals with the issue of deferring the interest payments on 
those loans for active duty people, our servicemembers, who have been 
called up. That higher education bill we will talk about when we deal 
with the extension of the current Higher Education Act, but we are 
hopeful that in the coming month or so we will be able to bring the 
higher education reauthorization bill to the floor which will deal with 
the issue our friend from Maryland has referred to.
  I do want to say that this is an important bill. We need to get it 
passed and get it to the other body to pass it so that our men and 
women in uniform will not be penalized because in fact they were called 
up, those who were in an institution of higher education. So I 
congratulate the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Kline).
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume. I urge my colleagues to support this very important piece of 
legislation that extends the existing authorities and again 
congratulate the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Kline).
  I do want to underscore the fact that I thought we should use the 
opportunity right now to improve this legislation in the way I 
described. We are, of course, hostage to our own congressional 
calendar, but I do not think we should be holding our troops overseas 
hostage to that same calendar.
  The higher education bill, whenever it comes before the House, still 
has to go through a long process. It has to get through the House, as 
we know; it has to get through the Senate; and then it must be signed 
by the President. That could be months. It could be years, as we know, 
for this process. I do not think we should be asking the men and women 
in Iraq and Afghanistan to be waiting years while their interest 
payments on these Federal student loans are accumulating.
  It seems to me we should get it done now. We have an opportunity to 
get it done now, and I hope we will move quickly to deal with that 
situation. Especially if the Higher Education Act gets bogged down, it 
seems to me we should move quickly to address that discrete issue that 
we can handle by itself without all the other issues that are tangled 
up as part of the higher education bill.

[[Page 20732]]

  So, again, a good bill. I wish we had used the opportunity to make it 
a little better, but I urge my colleagues to support it.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. KLINE. Madam Speaker, in closing I wish to thank the gentleman 
from Maryland and certainly thank the chairman and my colleagues for 
their support of this bill. It has been an interesting discussion we 
have had about legislative strategy.
  I agree that our troops, their welfare, and the pressure that is put 
on them sometimes as they are students is extremely important and 
something, frankly, not for us to trifle with. We have the opportunity 
here with a bill that has already received overwhelming support in its 
current form in both the House and Senate and been passed into law, and 
it seemed to us we should take advantage of this to make sure our 
troops receive continuous coverage, and then address the larger 
question the gentleman from Maryland raised earlier.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Emerson). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Kline) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2132.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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