Strengthening America's Security in the Middle East Act of 2019--Motion
Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, a vote earlier this month on the administration's decision to ease sanctions on a Russian oligarch puts the Senate on record on where its Members stand in terms of holding Russia accountable for its continued actions against the United States.
We need to be clear about what we are facing. Not only did Russia conduct what I believe to be a cyber act of war against the United States during the 2016 election cycle, it continues to do so with the President and his administration, apparently, indifferent.
Make no mistake. Russia tried to interfere in the recent midterm elections, and it continues to do so against our democratic allies in Europe. What has been the response of this body--the U.S. Senate--sworn to uphold the Constitution, to protect against enemies, foreign and domestic? Other than the belated passage of a Russia sanctions bill in the last Congress--a bill whose sanction provisions this administration has been slow or unwilling to enforce--we have done almost nothing.
Let's start in 2016 when top officials from the administration's national security and intelligence community came and warned congressional leadership of Russia's ongoing and serious attack on our election--this was during the election campaign--rightly asking for a bipartisan statement to tell Russian dictator Putin to stop.
What was Senate Majority Leader McConnell's response to this request to protect our Nation?
No thanks; not going to do it.
History will no doubt look back with amazement at that decision.
What about the Senate Foreign Relations Committee--a historically celebrated body with jurisdiction over this Russian attack on the United States? It did not even conduct an investigation into Russia's actions in the last Congress. To date, I have heard no plans to do so in this Congress. That is incredible.
We have stunning reports--reports that normally would bring this city to a halt--of an FBI counterintelligence investigation opened on President Trump--whether the President called for the destruction of notes after meetings with Russian leaders . . . something unheard of in the history of that office . . . and that Trump has been asking about how the United States could possibly withdraw from the NATO alliance.
These are stunning developments, and they are not alone. For anyone paying attention, they shouldn't be surprised that our President is, in fact, pursuing policies the Russians could only dream of. They include the weakening of our democratic institutions; the weakening of our Western security alliance; the withdrawing of U.S. leadership on the global stage and ceding influence to Russia, Iran, and China; silence when Russia attacked Ukrainian naval ships; entertaining the idea of turning over an American ambassador to Russia for an absurd line of questioning; cozying up to global dictators and ignoring American values of democracy of human rights; and, of course, the President saying publicly and privately to Putin that he believes him instead of our intelligence experts when it comes to denying any attacks on democracy.
We also know that President Trump was incredibly suggesting such Russia-friendly policies during his campaign while at the same time pursuing business interests in that country.
I end with a question I have asked before on this floor. How can the party of Ronald Reagan continue to sit by while this President pursues policies aligned with a former KGB agent? Why are the first bills in this new Senate under Republican control not dealing with the serious threats to our Nation? Why isn't the Senate Foreign Relations Committee holding urgent hearings on these stunning developments between an American President and a Russian dictator, not to mention moving bipartisan legislation to protect U.S. membership in NATO?
Quite simply, with the government finally back open we need deal with these serious threats to our nation and democracy that we have heard involving our White House. When we are elected to office in Congress, we take an oath. In it, we swear to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. The President similarly swears to preserve, protect, and defend our Constitution. As such, it is time for all of us--Democrats and Republicans--to speak up and fulfill our constitutional responsibility. For-Profit Colleges
Madam President, for anyone who thought the upheaval in the for- profit college industry was over or it was driven by an overzealous Obama administration determined to kill the industry, as some accused just a few short months ago, it is time to think again.
Just last month, amid the loving regulatory embrace of the for-profit college industry by President Trump's DeVos-led Department of Education, two major for-profit college chains have collapsed. It proves true the recent warning by the Department of Education inspector general, Kathleen Tighe, that for-profit colleges represent a disproportionate risk to both students and American taxpayers.
The rot in the for-profit college industry runs much deeper than just the failures of Corinthian and ITT Tech. On December 17, for-profit college company Vatterott Colleges announced the immediate closure of its campuses nationwide, leaving 2,300 students stranded, including 200 at its campus in Fairview Heights, IL. The company had been in financial trouble for some time. It had already closed a number of campuses, including one in Quincy, IL.
The Department of Education must now provide Illinois and other Vatterott students with clear information about their options, including their eligibility to receive a closed school discharge of their Federal student loans and option to file a claim for a borrower defense discharge if they believe they were defrauded by the university.
In addition, the Department must make sure these students are not put at risk a second time by assuring that they have affordable, quality options to continue their education, such as community colleges. It would be adding insult to injury to allow these students to be lured by other predatory or financially shaky for-profit colleges, especially those facing State and Federal investigations.
Early in December, Education Corporation of America closed 75 campuses nationwide, affecting some 20,000 students. I am pleased, in this case, that the Department of Education developed a page on its website to inform ECA students about closed school discharges. It must do more to communicate with affected students and ensure they are able to continue their studies at quality, affordable institutions.
The vultures are already circling these students.
In a recent letter, Steve Gunderson, a former Member of the U.S. House of Representatives and lead lobbyist for the for-profit colleges and universities, announced that for-profit colleges are working to assist the students who were victims of these collapsed for-profit schools and that 20 for-profit colleges had already expressed interest in taking on these ECA students. It is simply double jeopardy to ask students, once defrauded by this industry, to be somehow rescued and lured into another contractual obligation by another school in the for- profit college industry.
Over the holiday season, around 30 campuses owned by Dream Center Education Holdings closed. They include the Argosy campus in Schaumburg, IL, and the Illinois Institute of Art--not to be confused with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a reputable organization.
In August, I led several of my colleagues in writing to Secretary DeVos, asking her to provide immediate assistance to these students who had borrowed money to go to these worthless schools. We were concerned that Dream Center was not providing students with information about closed school discharges and was pushing them into other bad options, like enrolling in another for-profit school. Among other things, we asked the Department to post an information page on its website to inform the students. Even weeks after the closure, we have yet to receive a response to this letter from the Department of Education.
Adding to the confusion for students in Illinois is the fact that for months Dream Center misrepresented that the Illinois Institute of Art campuses were accredited, even when its accreditor had made clear that was not the case. I have called on Secretary DeVos to investigate this misrepresentation, especially as it relates to these students' eligibility for borrower defense discharges. The National Student Loan Defense Network has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of Illinois borrowers against the company for this misrepresentation, while the Department of Education and Washington remain silent.
Now, reports have surfaced of a new restructuring of these schools, with few details but major implications for students. The Department of Education must immediately inform students and the public about these changes.
Earlier this month, 48 State attorneys general, including our own Illinois attorney general, now retired, Lisa Madigan, and the District of Columbia reached a settlement with for-profit giant Career Education Corporation over consumer violations by the company. Under the settlement, Career Education Corporation agreed to forgo collecting $493 million owed to it by 180,000 students nationally--$48 million in relief for 17,000 students in Illinois who had been exploited by this for-profit school. I have long spoken out about these abuses and the misconduct of Career Education Corporation schools, especially their infamous and now defunct Le Cordon Bleu, Harrington College of Design, and Sanford-Brown brands. These fellows really dream up some wonderful names for worthless schools.
Just last week, for-profit college operator National American University Holdings announced ``substantial doubt'' that its finances would allow it to remain in business over the next year. The company, which has faced lawsuits related to deceptive practices, runs campuses in about a dozen States and online. Its closure would affect thousands of students.
How many more for-profit college collapses, closures, and State legal actions will it take before we get serious at the Federal level, both in Congress and at the Department of Education, about protecting students and taxpayers from this industry?
It just amazes me that so many people in this body stand back and watch the so-called for-profit colleges and universities exploit students and their families, watch them run up debts they will never be able to pay back, wait until they default, and then threaten them with lawsuits and collection agencies, instead of realizing at the outset that these schools are not reputable. These students are lured with promises the schools can't keep, and they are also lured into debt they will never be able to repay. They will never end up with a job that allows them to pay back the debt.
Don't take my word for it; think of two simple numbers. Nine percent of all postsecondary students go to for-profit colleges and universities--9 percent. Thirty-four percent of all federal student loan defaults are students from for-profit colleges and universities. Nine percent of the students; 34 percent of the defaults. Why would that be happening? Well, because they overcharge the students, and they provide them with a worthless diploma if they stick it out and don't drop out.
These schools are a blight on higher education and an exploitation of innocent students and their families. Who are the ultimate losers when their debts are discharged? American taxpayers who subsidize these miserable, good-for-nothing schools and then watch as they are not repaying their debts because the students can't, and the taxpayers end up the losers again. If that is capitalism at work, save this country, because it is a terrible outcome for the students, for their families, and for American taxpayers.
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