[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 7701-7702]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HIGHER EDUCATION EXTENSION

  Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
Senate bill (S. 2929) to temporarily extend the programs under the 
Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the Senate bill.
  The text of the Senate bill is as follows:

                                S. 2929

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

     SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF HIGHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS.

       (a) Extension of Programs.--Section 2(a) of the Higher 
     Education Extension Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-81; 20 U.S.C. 
     1001 note) is amended by striking ``April 30, 2008'' and 
     inserting ``May 31, 2008''.
       (b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section, or in 
     the Higher Education Extension Act of 2005 as amended by this 
     Act, shall be construed to limit or otherwise alter the 
     authorizations of appropriations for, or the durations of, 
     programs contained in the amendments made by the Higher 
     Education Reconciliation Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-171) or 
     by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (Public Law 110-
     84) to the provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and 
     the Taxpayer-Teacher Protection Act of 2004.
       (c) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) 
     shall take effect as if enacted on April 30, 2008.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Tierney) and the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. 
Boustany) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Massachusetts.


                             General Leave

  Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which 
Members may insert material relevant to S. 2929 into the Record.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Massachusetts?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of Senate 2929, a bill to temporarily 
extend programs under the Higher Education Act of 1965.
  At the beginning of February, the House took the next step in the 
reauthorization of the Higher Education Act in passing H.R. 4137, the 
College Opportunity and Affordability Act.
  Now we find ourselves in the near final phase of completing the 
reauthorization of the Higher Education Act as we work towards a 
compromise bill with the Senate to ensure that the doors of college are 
truly open to all qualified students. It's our goal to ensure that a 
final bill encompasses the major issues addressed in H.R. 4137, 
including the skyrocketing college prices and needlessly complicated 
student-aid application process and predatory tactics by student 
lenders.
  The bill under consideration today, S. 2929, will extend the programs 
under the Higher Education Act until May 31, 2008, to allow sufficient 
time for final deliberations on the two bills reported out of the 
respective chambers. While the process of reauthorizing the Higher 
Education Act may be coming to a close, I would like to underscore that 
this does not mean that we will complete work on higher education 
altogether.
  The committee intends to continue to address issues as needed, which 
include not only overseeing the proper implementation of the College 
Cost Reduction and Access Act and the rest of the Higher Education Act, 
but also, for example, ensuring availability of student loans during 
this challenging credit market, which the House acted on last week in 
passing H.R. 5715.
  It has been nearly 10 years since the Higher Education Act was last 
reauthorized, and I believe that Members on both sides of the aisle and 
in both chambers are anxious to complete work on a compromise bill in 
this Congress, and we believe it can happen.
  I look forward to completing this work with the respective Members on 
behalf of our Nation's hardworking families and students.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 2929, a 1-month extension of the 
Higher Education Act.
  Over the past several months, a tremendous amount of progress has 
been made toward reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. The 
Education and Labor Committee worked in a bipartisan fashion to produce 
a bill that received strong support here on the House floor.
  Chairman Miller and Ranking Member McKeon have been leading our 
efforts to negotiate a final compromise with the other chamber, and I 
am pleased to report that our work is nearly done. While I support 
today's temporary extension of programs under the Higher Education Act, 
I know members of the committee, along with members of the higher 
education community, will be pleased to hear our assurances that this 
will be the final extension we have to pass. We expect conference 
meetings to wrap up in the next several weeks with a conference report 
to be brought back in the month of May.
  As we move toward finalizing this broad overhaul of Federal higher 
education programs, our top priority must remain college access and 
affordability. Bolstering our higher education and student aid programs 
has long been a priority for Congress.
  One of the issues that has received a great deal of attention 
throughout the reauthorization process has been the rising cost of 
higher education and the high levels of debt that accompany that 
education for many students.
  As a physician, I am keenly aware of the unique challenges faced by 
new

[[Page 7702]]

graduates in the medical field, who often carry hundreds of thousands 
of dollars in debt, yet make an initial wage that is no more than many 
individuals with a bachelor's degree. I am particularly concerned that 
high debt levels among medical graduates may be limiting career 
choices, and that's why I was pleased to partner with another doctor on 
the committee, the gentleman from Georgia, Dr. Price, to call for a 
study of indebtedness of medical school graduates. It's important that 
we closely monitor the impact of student loan debt on all the young 
people pursuing higher education so that we can ensure the value of 
that investment is not outweighed by the burdens.
  I urge my colleagues to retain the House-passed provisions of the 
reauthorization bill that will help to address our Nation's looming 
nursing shortage, which makes health care more expensive for all 
Americans while delaying access to lifesaving treatment. HHS warns that 
the Nation's nursing shortage could exceed 1 million nursing vacancies 
by the year 2020. Congress has a duty to address this problem.
  I want to thank my colleagues, Congresswoman McCarthy and Congressman 
Melancon, for working across the aisle with me on this issue. This 
authorization is a long time coming, and I am pleased to be here 
supporting what we expect to be the final extension before this law is 
finally renewed.
  I urge my colleagues to support this extension.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this extension as we 
finalize our work on the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.
  I join my colleagues on the other side of the aisle in supporting 
this measure.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Tierney) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the Senate bill, S. 2929, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. BONNER. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  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.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

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