[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 11553]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 NEED-BASED EDUCATIONAL AID ACT OF 2015

  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 146, S. 1482.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 1482) to improve and reauthorize provisions 
     relating to the application of the antitrust laws to the 
     award of need-based educational aid.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill 
be read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be 
considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (S. 1482) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, 
was read the third time, and passed, as follows:

                                S. 1482

       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 ``Need-Based Educational Aid 
     Act of 2015''.

     SEC. 2. EXTENSION RELATING TO THE APPLICATION OF THE 
                   ANTRITRUST LAWS TO THE AWARD OF NEED-BASED 
                   EDUCATIONAL AID.

       Section 568 of the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994 
     (15 U.S.C. 1 note) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)--
       (A) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``or'' after the 
     semicolon;
       (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ``; or'' and inserting a 
     period at the end; and
       (C) by striking paragraph (4); and
       (2) in subsection (d), by striking ``2015'' and inserting 
     ``2022''.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today the Senate has passed the bipartisan 
Need-Based Educational Aid Act of 2015, which will extend for another 7 
years the anti-trust exemption permitting colleges and universities to 
collaborate on issues of need-based financial aid. I worked on this 
legislation with Senators Grassley and Lee. Together we crafted an 
approach to reauthorize this exemption which earned the unanimous 
support of the Judiciary Committee just last week. This anti-trust 
exemption allows colleges and universities that admit students on a 
need-blind basis to collaborate on the formula used to determine how 
much families can pay for college. Without congressional action, this 
exemption will expire at the end of September.
  Congress first enacted this exemption in 1994 and this will be the 
third time we have acted to reauthorize it. It is important for 
Congress to carefully review anti-trust exemptions to ensure that they 
continue to serve the public interest. In this case, our review led us 
to conclude that one particular provision should sunset because it has 
never been used by colleges and universities. The need for this slight 
modification underscores why I am skeptical of permanent anti-trust 
exemptions. Requiring those who benefit from exemptions to the anti-
trust laws to come to Congress and justify renewal ensures that they do 
not become a blank check for anti-competitive behavior.
  I would contrast the limited renewal the Senate has passed today with 
the McCarran-Ferguson Act, a permanent anti-trust exemption that the 
insurance industry has enjoyed since 1945. I have worked for years on a 
bipartisan basis to repeal that law precisely because marketplace 
conditions can change significantly over a 7-year period, not to 
mention the 70 years since McCarran-Ferguson was enacted. We should 
learn from our experience with today's bill.
  Our bipartisan and bicameral bill serves an important goal--allowing 
covered universities to focus their resources on ensuring the most 
qualified students can attend some of the best schools in the country, 
regardless of income. I am proud that Middlebury College in Vermont is 
one of those covered schools. I also appreciate the efforts of the 
bill's sponsors in the House, Congressmen Smith and Johnson. I urge the 
House to pass our bipartisan bill this week.

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