Providing for Congressional Disapproval of Rule Submitted By Department of Education Relating to ``Borrower Defense Institutional Accountability''--veto Message From the President of the United States
Floor Speech
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise to support this override.
Predatory for-profit colleges scam students and taxpayers out of millions of dollars. Predatory for-profit colleges account for 9 percent of students in postsecondary education but 33 percent of defaults.
To help students, the Department of Education under the Obama administration created a streamlined resolution process under the borrower defense to repayment provision of the Higher Education Act. Now, Secretary DeVos is breaking the process.
I will tell you what her goal is. It is to aid the perpetrators, not to help the victims. Under her new rule, borrowers lose out. They lose out if they cannot prove the school intentionally defrauded them, if they cannot file their claim fast enough, or if they cannot document their exact financial harm.
As a result, as little as 3 percent of eligible debt will be forgiven now. What little relief there is now will likely be shouldered by taxpayers, not the schools committing the fraud.
Stopping the Secretary as we are pushing to do has wide support: 20 State attorneys general and nearly 60 advocacy groups for students, civil rights, and education. The American Legion has said: ``Deception against our veterans and servicemembers has been a lucrative scam for unscrupulous actors.''
So I say to my Republican colleagues who want to support the military: Support this override.
And to those of us who want to fight for racial and economic justice: Support this override.
In 2018, we wrote to the Secretary, alarmed about how this rule could hurt students of color: ``Ninety-five percent of Black students attending a for-profit college took out student loans, and a staggering 75 percent of Black students who did not complete their programs defaulted.''
We must act now for veterans, for students of color, for borrowers across this country. In Connecticut, 1,100 defrauded students are waiting to be made whole. They need this override, not that cruel policy. Vote to override.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
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