Territorial Student Access to Higher Education Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6472, which would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for in-State tuition rates for certain residents of Guam, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, the American Samoa, and the United States Virgin Islands.

I support this initiative in principle because we cannot ignore the needs of these States. However, we also should not ignore that States and public colleges set their own tuition rates based on State budgets and priorities.

When this bill was marked up in committee, Democrats proposed an amendment to require the Federal Government to foot the bill for these costs instead of the public colleges themselves. This approach has a similar goal to the District of Columbia Tuition Assistance Grant, the DCTAG program, which provides Federal funding for D.C. residents to help pay the difference between the higher out-of-State tuition and the lower in-State tuition at public universities across the country.

The DCTAG program was established because Washington, D.C., does not have an adequate number of public universities. The territories involved in this bill face a similar challenge. Most of the territories do not have a robust public university system that offers a variety of majors for students to choose from. Regrettably, the full committee did not agree to this amendment to provide Federal funding.

Mr. Speaker, while I support the bill because we must ensure that all students have access to low-tuition college education, I still have concerns about the funding mechanism. It is the Federal Government's responsibility to bear the cost of this mandate rather than shift it to the States, which are already facing financial strain.

Further, while I appreciate my colleagues' interest in expanding college access and affordability for students from these territories, I would be remiss if I overlooked the fact that congressional Republicans made it harder for these same students to afford colleges. That is because of cuts to the Pell Grant Program, changes to loan limits, and elimination of affordable loan repayment plans enacted in their big ugly law. Nevertheless, I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the bill and reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Plaskett).
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