the man from aei comes from what looks like on the surface a conservative point of view, but which is truly a leftist economic point of view in that he represents an organization called american economic institute. that american economic institute is really a -- what we would commonly called -- call a neocon point of view, which is truly an international economic point of view. he represents an international view of economics which follows the only value system that these people know how to respect, and this is how money behaves on

international levels, not all on the american level. c-span needs to be very careful on its guests, because he will wind up like you did this morning. one looks like it is on the left, one looks like it is on the right. but in reality, the american eagle is flying on one wing whenever you have people who, on and deceive -- people who come on and deceive their content of character. i wish i could be a guest. the common man needs to have a voice. host: the common man has a voice three hours a day, every day, if you're on c-span. caller: we have to listen to all the propaganda of your guests, susan, for three hours.

america is not represented well by people on the right claiming to be conservative but who really have an international economic interest at heart. host: you made that point already, walter, and we are out of time. time for live coverage of the house of representatives today. it will be completing of the consideration of the student aid and financial responsibility act, which will restructure student loans. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] we showed you the story this morning about shelving the nuclear shield for poland and the czech republic. we have word that the president will speak about that at 10:00 this morning, and we will have

our cameras there. thank you for watching this morning. we will be back tomorrow morning, 7:00 a.m. eastern time. . [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father coughlin. chaplain coughlin: center, lord, by the people of this

nation to accomplish the work of government for the people. members of congress rightly feel endowed with a mantle of justice. divine providence has brought them together to honestly face the diversity and complexity of the times in the light of constitutional obligations. humbled by the sacred trust placed within them, they also realize their own limitations as well as the great expectations thrust upon them. this house of representatives for this great nation stands before you, almighty and ever powerful lord. seeking your wisdom and guidance to sort out confusion with the clarity of truth, to expose hidden greed and corruption in the light of

goodness, and to seek ways of peace by regulating laws and policies as the bedrock of equal justice. may all the members of this chamber and citizens across this nation drown out arguments, and anger with the depth of personal prayer for their government so they find their way, the truth and the life in you in whom we place all our trust. amen. the speaker: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house her approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1 the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from arkansas, congressman berry.

mr. berry: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker: the chair will receive a message. the messenger: madam speaker, a message from the senate. the secretary: madam speaker. the speaker: madam secretary. the secretary: i have been directed by the senate to inform the house that the senate has passed s. 1494, cited as the intelligence authorization act for fiscal year 2010, in which the concurrence of the house has requested. the speaker: thank you. thank you, madam secretary. the chair will now entertain up to five one-minute requests on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from arkansas rise? mr. berry: to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend, madam speaker. the speaker: without objection. mr. berry: madam speaker, i rise today to express my great

sorrow at the passing of dr. norman borlag and to honor his great contributions to biotechnology and battling famine around the globe. dr. borlag of high yield wheat varieties and his modern production techniques in mexico, pakistan led to the green revolution, a worldwide movement that greatly increased food security and improved the lives of millions of impoverished and hungry people on every continent. for his efforts he was awarded the presidential medal of freedom, the congressional gold medal and the nobel peace prize. to this day, farmers and elected leaders alike look to dr. borlag's accomplishments both as a matter of practice and inspiration. while his work has shown us how to better feed ourselves, his life has shown us that one man can improve the lives of millions when we're vulnerable. i thank you for this time, madam speaker, and i thank dr. borlag for his services to our

nation and the world. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? mr. kirk: i ask unanimous consent to dreck and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. kirk: history is not kind to leaders who sacrifice our polish allies. news reports indicate that our administration will end plans to build the long planned american missile defense site for poland. that site, carefully picked by the pentagon, is directly under the flight path an iranian missile would take if shot at the american people. the u.n. reports that iran has accelerated its production of ukrainian and iran became the first new nation to orbit a satellite when its newest and most powerful missile worked. iran, a state sponsor of terrorist, now makes the longest range missile of the terrorist world. the administration's decision is particularly ironic because poland just announced it would be sending more troops to serve

alongside americans in afghanistan. america is going to let poland down sending a message of weakness to our polish allies and the people building iran's new missile arsenal. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky rise? mr. yarmuth: request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. yarmuth: madam speaker, today marks the 222nd anniversary of the ratification of the constitution of the united states of america. one of the most important documents ever written. this historic day could he insides with the hiss -- coinsides with the historic debate taking place in this chamber over how we can solve our health care crisis. so i thought it might be useful to reference the sections of our nation's foundational document that empowered this legislature and this government to act in the best interest of the nation rather than sit idly by while our health care system spirals out of control. from the preamble in which we the people of the united states established the constitution to, among other purposes, promote the general welfare.

to article 1 which gives congress all of the legislative powers granted in the constitution, the legislators rightly elected by the people of the republic have the ability to make all laws -- all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying out our enumerated power, the promotion of the progress of science and the arts, and the regulation of commerce. each of these directly pertaining to our health care crisis. it is time for us to act pursuant to the constitution. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. smith: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. smith: madam speaker, following president obama's address to a joint session of congress about health care, the national media touted poll showing a bump in public approval of the president's health care plan. but the media failed to point out that the polls vastly oversampled democrats. for example, a cbs poll last week trumpetted a 12-point

improvement, end quote, in the president's approval rating on health care following his speech. cbs failed to mention that democrats outnumbered republicans in the poll sampled by 15 percentage points, far greater than the actual party identification gap. worse, a cnn poll touted a, quote, double-digit postspeech jump for the president, but the poll oversampled democrats by more than a 2-1 margin. when questioning far more democrats than republicans, it should come as no surprise that poll results favor a democratic agenda. the media should be objective and not intentionally slant their polling data. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from oregon rise? mr. defazio: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. defazio: there's a lot of talk on the republican side yesterday about the government takeover of the student loan business. what nonsense.

i mean, what we are going to do is stop subsidizing the banks. that's what the republicans are really upset about here. today, for every dollar in student loans, the taxpayers are dinged 15 cents, subsidies to the banks. if we convert to a national direct student loan program, the minority of the loans go through that today, for every dollar we lend to a student we'll get back $1.03. now, they want to run government like a business but their idea of a business is shoveling subsidies to the private sector. i want to run government like a business. i want to give more loans to students, more effectively at lower costs for the taxpayers. that's the national direct student loan program. this is a reform that's long overdue. stop crying about the subsidies to the banks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana rise? mr. pence: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the

gentleman is recognized. mr. pence: yesterday, democrats in the senate unveiled a much-anticipated new compromise on health care reform. and as my late father used to say, here comes the new guy, looks a lot like the old guy. the compromise for government-run insurance is more government-run insurance. but i rise this morning to draw particular attention to a proposal in the compromise that would force americans who don't have health insurance to buy it. under the proposal, everybody would be forced to buy government-approved policies. and if you didn't, families could face tax penalties of $3,800 per year, individuals $950 if they don't comply. well, none other than candidate for president, now president barack obama opposed such mandates. he said in a primary debate in january of 2008, you can mandate it but there's still going to be people who can't afford it. if they can't afford it the question is, what are you going to do about it? the president said on cnn's american morning" in february

of 2008, if a mandate was the solution, we could try to solve homelessness by mandating everybody to buy a house. mr. president, couldn't have said it better myself. the president is right, mandates are not the answer. let's scrap this government-run insurance plan and work in a bipartisan way to lower costs -- more mandates and more taxes. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise? mr. cohen: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cohen: thank you, madam speaker. today, the house will vote on the student aid and fiscal responsibility act. it's an important bill to help education in our country. it will give higher pell grant amounts to students who need more money to make it through college. it will put moneys in the community colleges for fiscal improvements and also into k-12 for fiscal improvements. it will help historically black colleges and universities who are suffering a great deal at this time. there's so much this bill will do to help move us forward and it will save $12 billion toward the deficits. take moneys from the private

sector that's been making money off of student loans and provide opportunities for students in education and it will repeal a draconian provision that hurts minorities and ors who can't get student loans because of federal laws because of simple violations of criminal laws. that shouldn't happen and those students should have the opportunity to get college grants and loans and go on and approve -- improve themselves and make more of themselves. i look forward to voting this bill which will help move america forward. thank you very much. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. . mr. john son: since the president was sworn in, -- mr. johnson: since the president was sworn in, he has approved 34 czars.

the health czar and secretary of health. worse, 27 of the 34 czars have not even been confirmed by the senate despite a constitution requirement. these czars make 7 $172,000 yearly and that doesn't include expensive unchecked staff with zero accountability. i backed legislation that would withhold funding from any czar not confirmed by the senate. americans want, need, and deserve transparency and accountability. let's rein in the czars. yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the lady from pennsylvania rise? so granted. ms. schwartz: today the house will vote to save taxpayers nearly $90 billion in making the federal college loan system more efficient. this action the student aid and fiscal responsibility act is the greatest investment in higher education ever. this bill increases pell grants for students, enables states to

improve their early education system, and reduces the federal deficit by $10 billion. it improves our nation's education system for all children. the early learning challenge fund supports state efforts to invest in high quality, integrated, early education and care for children birth through 5. literal education pays huge fiscal and social dividends in the long run and this is an important step forward. the college access and completion innovation fund, the most innovative strategies to improve student access in college. the bill provides funding for much needed school modernization and repair. done in an environmentally energy efficient manner by including legislation we approved earlier this year. the democratic majority is committed to stabilizing the economy, lowering our deficit, and ensuring that america's economically competitive in the future. this plan helps us achieve these key goals. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: thank you. for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky rise?

>> to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: are you recognized. mr. guthrie: thank you, mr. speaker. over the recent district work period i traveled to each county in my district listening to constituents's ideas and concerns and answering questions. i heard overwhelmingly that a government-run public option was not a viable answer to the problems americans are facing. the president gave a well delivered speech last week but left being questions in the minds of the american people. how do we pay for such a bill? how can you cut funding for medicare without impacting the millions of seniors who receive the benefits? and how will individuals who are happy with their coverage get to keep the care they have? everyone agrees on the need for improvement. however we must move toward changes that make health care more affordable, accessible, and higher quality. we have an opportunity to work together to improve the lives of all americans by crafting a bipartisan commonsense solution that our country can afford. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: thank you, sir.

for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. miller: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that during the proceedings today in the house and in the committee of the whole the chair be authorized to reduce to two minutes the minimum time for e -- electronic voting that otherwise could be subjected to five-minute voting under clause 8 or 9 under rule 20 or clause 6 under rule 18. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. pursuant to house resolution 746 and rule 18, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the further consideration of h.r. 3221. will the gentlewoman from colorado ms. degette, kindly take the chair. the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the further consideration of h.r. 3221 which the clerk will

report by title. the clerk: a bill to amend the higher education act of 1965, and for other purposes. the chair: when the committee of the whole house rose on wednesday, september 16, 2009, a request for recorded vote on amendment number 7 printed in house report 111-256 offered by the gentlewoman from north carolina, ms. foxx, had been postponed. it is now in order to consider amendment number 8 printed in house report number 111-256. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. reyes: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 8 printed in house report number 111-256, offered by mr. reyes of texas. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 746, the gentleman from texas, mr. reyes, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. reyes: thank you, madam chair. i yield myself such time as i

may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. reyes: madam chair, the men and women who have made enormous sacrifices to serve our country deserve every opportunity to get a good education. and my amendment will help them do just that. my amendment will encourage community colleges to use the funding provided through the new grant program to increase the level of training for our veterans and members of the national guard and reserves. this amendment will help community colleges do outreach to our veterans, national guardsmen, and reservist who is may be looking to obtain new skills and training in these difficult economic times. and this funding is also now intended to help our veterans realize the benefits of the post-9/11 g.i. bill that congress passed last year. the post-9/11 g.i. bill was created by landmark legislation that gives -- makes good on america's promise to take care

of those who have proudly served our nation. it offers unprecedented benefits that will make college affordable to our nation's a veterans. however, the legislation will not meet its full potential if eligible veterans are not aware or do not take advantage of the opportunities available in their communities. this amendment will helpp to promote a more veteran-friendly environment at our nation's community colleges by encouraging this generation of american heroes to use the benefits that they have so rightly earned. community colleges provide the first postsecondary experience for many students and critical in providing them the education and training required for the high-demand jobs needed to keep the united states competitive. i am pleased that my colleague, representative adler, has a similar amendment that will assist veterans who are seeking to attend four-year college or

universities. making sure that veterans who want to pursue an advanced degree and that they are able to do so is the right thing to do for our local economies and to make us and continue us to be competitive in the future. i urge my colleagues to support this amendment and yield back the time. i recognize my colleague. mr. miller: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i thank him for offering this amendment. we would strongly support this amendment. as he's well aware of, and i think most of the nation is, that the young men and women who join the armed forces over the last eight or nine years left this country to serve in iraq, afghanistan, and elsewhere in the troubled spots of the world. many of them left as high school graduates, some of them not high school graduates, many left in an economy that is very different today than it was when they left their homes to serve this nation. and clearly we want to make sure that they have the

opportunities to integrate back into the economy after leaving the service on terms that are helpful to them and to their families and their local communities. thank you very much for offering this amendment. mr. reyes: i thank the chairman. madam chair, i ask that i be allowed to revise and extend my remarks. the chair: without objection. does the gentleman reserve his time or yield back? mr. reyes: yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. mr. reyes: i reserve. the chair: the gentleman reserves. for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? mr. kline: i rise to claim time although i do not oppose this amendment. in fact i rise to say that we are going to support this amendment. i yield back. the chair: without objection. the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from texas. mr. reyes: thank you, madam chair. i thank my colleague. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the question now occurs on the amendment offered by the gentleman from texas. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair,

the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 9, printed in house report number 111-256. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina rise? mr. etheridge ridge: madam speaker, i have a resk. the chair: amendment number 9, printsed in house report number 111-256, offered by mr. etheridge of north carolina. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 746, the gentleman from north carolina, mr. etheridge, and a member posed, will each control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina. mr. etheridge: thank you, madam chair. i yield myself two minutes. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. etheridge: i want to thank chairman miller for his support on this amendment and his work to expand educational opportunities for all america's students. madam chair, as we work to make our student loan systems work better for taxpayers, we must also make sure that the system still works for students and

families who seek to improve their future through education. my amendment makes sure that benefits that help students and expand access to college including loan counseling, outreach and education, and default prevention services continues to be available. it clarifies that these services targeted to local needs by state educational authorities and nonprofit agencies are eligible funding under h.r. 3221. guaranty agencies such as the north carolina educational assistance authority in my state has developed customized services to help students learn to manage their debt and avoid default. in 2007 they helped students with more than $52 billion in debt recovery from deling one minute loans saving both students and taxpayers money. guarantors and affiliated nonprofits like the college foundation of north carolina help families plan for college and navigate these financial

aid and loan options. every day nearly 10,000 students and families turn to the cfnc to get help and information. we need to make sure these services continue to be available and my amendment ensures that they are. higher education is still a key to the american dream. and this will help make it even more so. madam chair, i reserve the balance of my time. i would be happy to yield. mr. miller: i thank the gentleman for offering this amendment. it's a good amendment. it's important. these agencies have a track record in helping students and helping the taxpayers with default aversion activities. but also we look forward to them having an expanded role in financial literacy and helping students as they contemplate going to college while they are in college, managing their debt, making decisions about whether they need all of that debt or not, and also as they leave because we have this congress on a bipartisan basis has passed a number of loan forgiveness programs, the

income determine gnat repayment programs. so that students really can start to see how they can manage the debt and make career choices at the same ti. unfortunately many students don't realize it until they graduate they would have really liked to have done something else but didn't think they could have that career and manage their debt. these agencies are going to take on an even more important role for young people as they start and progress through college. i thank you for offering the amendment. the chair: the gentleman reserves. mr. etheridge: i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? mr. kline: madam chair, i rise to claim time in opposition of the amendment although at this time i do not expect to oppose the amendment. the chair: without objection the gentleman is recognized. . mr. kline: this amendment attempts to cobble together a new system that will provide students, families that will have default aversion, financial lit rass is i services available -- lit rass see services available today.

-- literacy services available today. the existence of this amendment it seems to me is proof that we are eliminating these important benefits by eliminating the ffel program. rather than figuring out how to keep the ffel program, keep the private sector involved, the amendment will be in the direct loan program. i'm concerned that the net result will mean fewer students served and more red tape for those who do wish to obtain these services. as i said, madam chair, i am not going to oppose this amendment but members should know there is a much easier way to provide the rather needed elements of ffel. rather than destroying the program and working to re-create it, we can work to preserve and improve the ffel program. and with that, madam chair, i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from north carolina. mr. etheridge: thank you, madam chair. and i'd yield one minute to my colleague from maine, a

co-sponsor of this amendment, mr. welch. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. welch: i thank you, mr. etheridge, i thank you, mr. miller. i am in strong support of this amendment. the bill is terrific because what it does is take taxpayer assistance and gives it to kids and parents rather than to big bailed out banks. secondly, what this amendment does is allow those institutions like the vermont student assistance corporation, nonprofit, dedicated to getting kids to go to college to help them navigate the process of financing college and then to contend with the challenges of repaying the loan. it's had an incredible success rate. this amendment gives the benefit to those local institutions that are nonprofit, student centered, parent centered, family centered to continue to do that work at the local level. thank you very much for your leadership on this, mr. etheridge. it will make a big difference for families and folks in

vermont. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from north carolina. mr. etheridge: madam chair, i'd yield one minute to my colleague and a co-sponsor and someone who has been working on this issue a long time, congressman price, for one minute. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. price: madam chairman, i thank my colleague, and i want to thank the chairman of the committee and the entire committee for their work on this important bill making historic investments in america's education and economic prosperity. in particular, i want to thank the committee for including provisions in the bill that would allow guaranteed agencies, such as the north carolina state educational assistance authority, to provide value, added outreach services, via contracts with the department of education. these services play a vital role at both ends of the student loan process by informing borrowers about education financing options before college and help them successfully pay back their loans after gaduation. our proposed amendment clarifies that several of the key borrower services guarantees agencies currently

provide, such as delinquency provision, collections, also would be available, eligible for contract arrangements with the department. these agencies -- in north carolina we've had consistently low default rates, among the nation's lowest. and these services it's been estimated save taxpayers a total of about $52 billion. in 2007, according to the national council of higher education loan program. so i thank my colleague from north carolina for his collaborative work at putting forward this amendment, along with many other colleagues. i urge members to give us their support. the chair: the gentleman from north carolina. mr. etheridge: madam chair, i yield one minute to my friend and colleague from north dakota, mr. pomeroy, who's a co-sponsor also. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pomeroy: i thank the gentleman for yielding and his work on this amendment. i rise in strong support of this amendment. it will impact entities like the bank of north dakota, the

only state-owned bank in the country. this bank provides for the students of our state the lending and servicing functions for the federal student loan program. it's uniquely positioned in this regard in the country. it has provided students and families the tools and techniques to deal with their student loan debt. it has worked to maintain low default rates through one-on-one default repayment counseling, on-campus presentations and other outreach efforts. as a result, we've had very low default rates in north dakota. i'm pleased with the service they have provided to their students. delighted of theamed, unlike the underlying bill, would allow that to continue. i know the chairman has approved this amendment. thank you. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from north carolina. mr. etheridge: madam chair, i thank the chairman and ranking member for their work on this bill and the other members of

the committee and encourage my colleagues to vote for the eam and for the underlying bill. and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from north carolina. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 10 printed in house report 111-256. for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? mr. driehaus: i thank you, madam chair. i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 10 printed in house report 111-256 offered by mr. driehaus of ohio. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 746, the gentleman from ohio, mr. driehaus, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from ohio. mr. driehaus: thank you, madam chair. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. driehaus: thank you, madam chair. as we discuss h.r. 2331, i'd like to draw attention to a

critical component of the bill. and that is the college completion and innovation fund. this amendment, madam chair, impacts one portion of the college completion and innovation fund, and that specifically is the state innovation and completion grants. about 50% of the college completion and innovation fund go to state innovation and completion grants. these are targeted at low-income and disadvantaged populations in each of our states. and they are meant to incentivize, incentivize states to engage and create efforts with low-income communities working with nonprofits, working with universities to provide grants for these populations. with that the state has to provide to the department of education a plan, a plan describing how they will utilize the funds. this amendment is quite simple. in that it states that in that plan we must target and we must include dislocated workers. and i think you'll agree, madam chair, and i think most of the members will agree that in this economy with the number of employees that are currently

unemployed, we need to be targeting and looking at the skillsets of dislocated workers. because when we talk about innovation and education, when we talk about re-educating our work force, there's no more important population than those that are recently unemployed. and as we move toward a new technology economy, it's critical that although we have tremendous workers across the united states, we appreciate the fact that they need more education, that they need retooling in order to make them competitive for the jobs of the 21st century in order for us to compete in a global marketplace. so this is a simple amendment, madam chair, and it simply says to the states that we need to be focusing on those dislocated workers. and with that i'll yield to the distinguished chair of the committee, mr. miller. mr. miller: i want to thank the gentleman for yielding and thank the gentleman from ohio. this is obviously a very important component of this legislation.

his amendment substantially improves it because the whole nation is aware of the needs of dislocated workers and certainly in the midwest where workers are leaving one generation of technology and seeking jobs -- the next generation is seeking the next generation of technology and manufacturing. it's important to be included in these state plans. i thank the gentleman for offering this amendment. mr. driehaus: with that i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? mr. kline: thank you, madam chair. i rise to claim time in opposition although i do not intend to oppose. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. kline: the purpose of this amendment is indeed laudable. it's to ensure that dislocated workers is in the postsecondary education planning. it's a reasonable goal. i support the goal. we should all support that goal, but there's a rich irony here in that the underlying bill itself is going to create thousands of these dislocated workers. we've seen estimates of 30,000

or 35,000. so if we're serious about helping dislocated workers, and i believe we are, we should scrap this underlying job-killing bill and find a better way to stabilize student lending for the long term. i reserve. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from ohio. mr. driehaus: thank you, madam chair. i will at this time yield back the balance of my time. mr. kline: i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the question now occurs on the amendment offered by the gentleman from ohio. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 11 printed in house report 111-256. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. cuellar: madam chair, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment.

the clerk: amendment number 11 printed in house report 111-256 offered by mr. cuellar of texas. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 746, the gentleman from texas, mr. cuellar, and a member opposed, will each control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. cuellar: thank you, madam chair. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cuellar: madam chair, i rise today in support of my amendment to the student aid and fiscal responsibility act of 2009, which i believe is susceptible to the chairman, chairman miller. i certainly want to thank chairman miller for the leadership he's provided. the ranking member, mr. kline, for the work he's been doing in the committee. and i certainly want to thank him. madam chair, at a time when our nation's students need it the most, this legislation makes it where we can make some changes to the student lending, one of the biggest changes we've seen in years and years. while this bill makes tremendous investments in education, too many potential college students may be unaware

of it. unfortunately, today, there's many students, especially those who may be the first in their families to apply to college or who may come from disadvantaged communities that ill-informed about student loans. many students are not aware of the opportunities available to them or of the responsibilities that follow from taking out a loan. this lack of information will arrange from students deciding that college is too expensive or those who default on their loans after graduation. when you look at some of the states that have been impacted, this particular amendment will call on the secretary to work with colleges, universities to educate students about the repayment of federal direct loans, and this amendment will help cut excessive default rates that threaten the eligibility of some of the schools from participating in this federal student aid program. my home state of texas has one of the highest student loan default rates in the country, and financial aid directors in

my district have cited a lack of information and outreach as a primary cause. as we make college more accessible to all americans, we need to make sure that students and their families have the information so they can make recent and informed decisions. the simple but important amendment will increase to student awareness of financial aid opportunities, help prevent student loan defaults, and i urge all my colleagues to support it. i yield back the balance of my time. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? mr. kline: thank you, madam chair. i rise to claim time in opposition although, again, i don't plan to vote against it. the chair: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. kline: thank you. thank you, madam chair. this amendment it seems to me is a little bit like putting a band-aid on what has proven to be a gaping wound. i don't think it's going to make anything worse and it might even stop a little bit of

the bleeding, but it certainly won't heal the damage. h.r. 3221 eliminates a program that over 70% of colleges and universities have consistently chosen. this amendment is an acknowledgment that the break neck pace of this transition, transitioning by next summer, will be a problem for students, families and schools. while i share the concern about this radical change to our financial aid system, i fear this amendment may not do as much good as the gentleman from texas hopes. the department of education already maintains a website on federal aid programs and regularly disseminates information to high schools about the availability of federal student aid. in spite of information about the direct loan program, most schools still choose the ffel program. this tells me it's not lack of information but the genuine prrch for the choice, innovation and the competition of the ffel program. informing students and families is important, but it's no substitute for simply maintaining the program they

already know and they already like. i reserve. the chair: the gentleman from texas. mr. cuellar: i reserve -- i yield time to mr. andrews. the chair: how much time? mr. cuellar: as much time as he may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. andrews: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i rise to express the committee's strong support for his amendment. it's important to reflect on what mr. cuellar's amendment does and what the bill does not do. mr. cuellar's amendment answers questions for students and families and financial aid officers and universities and colleges about how best to access student loans. and mr. cuellar's amendment, i think, very wisely recognizes there's a whole different kind of person who's achieving a higher education in our country today. it's not simply the person right fresh out of high school. it's people who are in the middle of a career change, either voluntarily or involuntarily because of a layoff or a plant closing.

it's a person who's a bit further along in life and wants to builds his or her career by going to college. it's a nonconventional student. it might be a person very new to america or it might be a person that's been here for a very, very long time. people facing language, cultural, other kinds of issues. mr. cuellar is doing is to make sure that the department of education is a constructive and active partner in answering the questions that our constituents have. so we enthusiastically embrace and support his amendment. his amendment improves on a bill that doesn't really do any of the things with all due respect the minority said. . this is not a radical shift at all. right now a student goes to a financial aid office and applies for a pell grant. it's a common process done throughout college campuses, university campuses around this country. the only change between applying for a pell grant and applying for a student loan is that you sign a document that's a note to pay the loan back.

that's the only additional step that takes place. it's far less bureaucratic and far less complicated for a student who is accessing such a loan. this bill save the taxpayers $10 billion over time off the deficit. it stops the practice of rewarding people for taking risks with taxpayers' money. it understands as the congressional budget office has said that the savings generated from this are $87 billion over time. the bill promotes efficiency, it will generate economic development with respect to the gentleman's point about lost jobs. mr. etheridge's amendment very much speaks to that. it makes sure that loan originators are now eligible to become loan processors and collectors and much of the work that's done by those who originate in the private sector will now be done in the private sector by those who process and service these loans. so the underlying bill saves the taxpayers money,

significantly expands educational opportunity, and reduces the deficit by $10 billion over time. mr. cuellar has done i believe is significantly add to the value of this bill. the committee strongly supports his amendment. i yield back to him. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, madam chair. clearly there is continuing disagreement over money this underlying bill saves or costs. the congressional budget office provided an original score of a so-called savings of $87 billion. that same congressional budget office has provided additional information which would indicate that this bill is going to put us furtherer into deficit, further into debt by perhaps as much as $50 billion. this is not a money saving bill. this is a government takeover of of an industry. this will cost jobs despite the etheridge amendment. this is a bad piece of legislation. i'm going to support this amendment because it is at least a band-aid.

i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the question now occurs on the amendment offered by the gentleman from texas. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 12 printed in house report 111-256. for what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut rise? mr. mur -- mr. murphy: madam chair, i have an amendment at the desk made in order under the rule. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 12, printsed in house report number 111-256, offered by mr. murphy of connecticut. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 746, the gentleman from connecticut, mr. murphy, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from connecticut. mr. murphy: madam chair, i recognize myself for as much time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. murphy: i'd like to first thank chairman bill miler, representative andrews, representative hinojosa, ranking member for their work on the underlying legislation.

we are debating right now landmark legislation that's going to bring more access, affordable access to hundreds of thousands, if not millions of college students across this country. and therefore it's only fitting that as a component to this legislation the student aid and fiscal responsibility act also heavily invests in birth to 5 education. we know investing in earthly childhood education creates a pathway to later success in our educational spectrum. madam chair, i have spent the last several months touring around my district talking with the people who make our early childhood education system work. i have hosted round table discussions in cities lying torington and danbury and listen to parents and providers and administrators. there's been one message i have heard loud and clear. that's the lack of early education degree programs. in connecticut and across the country often makes it

difficult to find highly qualified early learning teachers in connecticut and across the nation. so my amendment simply seeks to clarify that the very important early learning challenge fund included in this bill would allow for states to use some of that grant money to partner with local colleges and universities to create or to expand effective education and training programs for early learning providers. i was a very strong supporter of our head start and school readiness act in 2007. and that bill requires that head start teachers by 2011 have associates degree and by 2013, 50% of head start teachers be required to have a bachelor or master's degree. i think this is important. i think it's important to make sure that our nation's kids have teachers and educators who have that academic background, that real world experience. we need to make sure that our educational system feeds our early learning centers with those trained professionals.

i appreciate the chairman's help on this bill. i appreciate representative andrews' support. i urge the chamber's support. and i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? mr. kline: thank you, madam chair. once again i rise to claim time in opposition although once again i'm not going to oppose this amendment. the chair: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. kline: as i understand this amendment, i yield myself such time as i may consume, as i understand the purpose of this amendment is to allow states to support education and training for early learning providers by entering into partnerships with higher education institutions. i don't oppose these partnerships at all but i am concerned with the underlying language here. what we are doing in the bill, we are diverting $8 billion to fund and impose requirements on state early childhood systems. in 2005, the g.a.o. reported that there were already 69

federal early childhood programs. spread out over 10 federal agencies with no coordinator or comprehensive strategy. it's not the partnerships to improve early provider training that cause my concern, it's the entire notion that the federal government is inserting itself yet again into pre-k education and other areas, especially when we have not yet met our obligation to very important programs like idea. creating new programs, once again will be underfunded, once again will compete with special ed. we ought not to be adding new programs when we haven't met our basic obligations. i reserve. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from connecticut. mr. murphy: i yield to representative from new jersey for as much time as he may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. andrews: i thank my friend for yielding. and the committee congratulates and thanks him for this very excellent work he's done on this amendment. mr. murphy's amendment recognizes that some of the

most important teaching in america is going on right now by people who have had some of the least access to high quality education for themselves. and it's not because they are not competent. it's not because they don't want to, it's because the resources have not been there. the research very clear that children in the very early years of their lives develop much of their learning patterns and their skills. and the country needs a significant investment in high quality teacher education for the men and women who are teaching preschools across the country. mr. murphy's amendment i think embraces that concept in a very wise way by encouraging the states that will receive early learning funding under this bill to consider using some of of that funding in partnerships with higher education institutions so that the quality of teachping -- teaching may improve. this is an amendment that will pay dividends for years to come because better education for our pre-k students will lead to

better achievement in the classroom which will yield better results throughout the lives of these students when they become taxpayers and workers and productive citizens of this contry. i think this is an effort that's going to bear fruit for many years to come. committee would urge a yes vote. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: at this time i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from connecticut. mr. murphy: thank you, madam chair. i thank the gentleman for his support. there are thousands of early childhood educators in my district and i'm sure similar numbers across the country who want to go back to school, get that education, that advanced degree. right now the problem is there aren't slots for them to do this. this early challenge grant provides the opportunity to expand on programs today and help states create new ones. i would urge support for this amendment. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from connecticut. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to.

it is now in order to consider amendment number 13 printed in house report 111-256. for what purpose does the gentleman from mississippi rise? mr. childres: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 13, printed in house report number 111-256, offered by mr. childres of mississippi. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 746, the gentleman from mississippi, mr. childres, -- childress, and a member opposed will each control five minutes. the gentleman from mississippi. mr. childers: i rise today in support of h.r. 3221, i ask my colleagues for their support of my amendment. to h.r. 3221 and our nation's veterans. i want to thank the chairman and committee for making our amendment in order today. this amendment would require campus veterans resource

officers to act as a link between student veterans and mental health care providers at the department of fairs. -- veterans' affairs. with the support of veterans resource officers on university and college campuses, student veterans will be better connected to vital services provided by the department of veterans affairs and will be better preparedp to complete their studies. -- prepared to complete their studies. with the recent implementation of the pose-9/11 g.i. bill veterans have greater access to higher education and training. my amendment would help ensure that student veterans are able to complete their degree and graduate. when the recently deployed national guard members from my district in mississippi returned, i want to see these education benefits accessed by veterans and help those veterans to succeed in their college careers. i would like to especially commend the unprecedented investments in community colleges included in h.r. 3221. community colleges in mississippi are some of the

best in the nation and they play an important role in preparing students for tomorrow's work force. a community college education is one of the best investments a student can make. i thank our veterans for their service to our nation and encourage them to access the training and education benefits they have earned. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important amendment. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? mr. kline: thank you, madam chair. again i claim the time in opposition to the amendment although again i do not intend to oppose the amendment. in fact, this is a very worthy goal. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. kline: this is a very worthy goal and i applaud the gentleman's efforts in putting this amendment together. we should be doing things in all of our legislation that will strengthen the support that we provide to our men and women in uniform while they are in uniform, while they are overseas, when they come back,

and when they take the uniform off. i applaud the gentleman and support the amendment and reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from mississippi. mr. childers: may i inquire how much time i have? the chair: the gentleman has 3 1/2 minutes remaining. mr. childers: i would yield to the gentleman from new jersey, two minutes. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. andrews: i thank the author for yielding. i join my friend from minnesota in supporting this amendment. i know my friend from minnesota speaks as a father and vet an when he speaks in favor of this amendment. we salute his service. this amendment is part of a series of amendments that carry forth a bipartisan tradition in this house that says that we don't want to simply welcome our troops home with welcoming ceremonies, we want to really welcome them home with services and respect and resources they so richly deserve. this amendment carries forth that tradition by emphasizing that our veterans who choose to pursue a higher education and who would benefit from the full range of health service that is

are available to veterans need to have those services. the amendment requires an active liaison process between the veteran service officer on a campus and the health care people at the veterans administration so that veterans could have the full range of services and frankly try to make as much one-stop-shopping as we can. so a veteran who is trying to balance his or her family obligations and work obligations and school obligations who has some health care issues is able to get services in one place, maybe instead of two or three. makes a lot of sense for people. i think the author has reflected the views of his constituents not only in his district but veterans around our country. so the majority on the committee is strongly in favor of of this proposal because it recognizes not only the service that our veterans have given us, but the needs they have and we would urge a yes vote. i yield back to the author of the amendment. .

mr. childers: i'd like to thank the gentleman from across the aisle for his support of veterans as well. madam chair, this is simple. this is good for veterans. it's good for universities and community colleges, and this is one way that this body can honor our commitment to our men and women who have worn the uniform so proudly. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from minnesota. the gentleman from mississippi has the right to close. mr. kline: thank you, madam chair. pardon me? the chair: the gentleman from mississippi has the right to close. but he just yielded back. so the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: it's -- it was the gentleman's amendment. parliamentary inquiry. doesn't the opposite side have the right to close on these amendments as offered? the chair: only a true opponent

has a right to close. when the gentleman claims the time in opposition but does not actually oppose the amendment then the proponent of the amendment closes. mr. kline: thank you, madam chair. i support the amendment. i support the comments from my colleagues from new jersey and mississippi, the author of the bill, and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. mr. childers: i yield back. the chair: the question how occurs on the amendment offered by the gentleman from mississippi. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 14 printed in house report 111-256. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? mr. adler: madam chair woman, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 14 printed in house report 111-256 offered by mr. adler of new jersey. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 746, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. adler, and

a member opposed, will each control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. adler: thank you, madam chair woman. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. adler: i'd like to thank by thanking chairman miller, chairman andrews and ranking member kline for their leadership on the support in matter. the legislation we're discussing today provides funding to schools, nonprofits and other educational related organizations that assist students in the completion of college and associate degrees. my amendment, along with that earlier amendment offered by mr. reyes, will take this bill to the next level and prioritize grants to schools and organizations that have shown a dedication to ensure student veterans have the support and resources they need to complete their degrees. our veterans have served our country to keep us safe and free. they deserve every opportunity to succeed as they return home. we should make every effort to ensure that their transition from service to civilian life is smooth and successful. to that end, my amendment will prioritize schools and organizations that support our student veterans and help them

apply the skills learned in military service to the classroom. i thank the schools and organizations who already take steps to increase education opportunities for our veterans and hope that my amendment will support their efforts and provide an incentive for others to join them. rutgers university, the state college of new jersey, has been the forefront in my home state providing much-needed educational opportunities to our service members. they've had advisory boards to better assist our state veterans obtain the college degrees and certificates they deserve. i hope that this bill pushes more colleges and universities across the country to support our veterans in the future. george washington said it best, the willingness with which our young people will serve in any war should be directly proportional how they perceive previous wars were treated. thank you, madam chair.

i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from delaware rise? mr. castle: thank you, madam chair woman. i rise not in opposition. i claim the time in opposition. kaip the chair: the gentleman is recognized. without objection. mr. castle: i think this is a good purpose and i'm supportive of it. we've done something similar to this in the higher education act in putting people in colleges to help with veterans. i think his purpose is well intended. i also have examined this legislation carefully. it's gone through our committee which whom i serve several times. i think there's some very good aspects of the bill if you isolate that and you believe all the numbers in there, increasing the pell grant limit, supporting minority serving institutions, supporting early childhood educational programs, expanding services for veterans and supporting community colleges and putting money towards deficit reduction. all that is well and good. but i have a couple problems with this legislation.

one is i'm not 100% sure that i believe all the numbers which are being thrown around in terms of the savings. secondly, i have examined the way student loans are done now, and i have examined the federal family education loan program, the ffel program, which is federally backed student loan program, and i have found that that program serves 4,421 colleges and universities nationally and close to $68 billion in student loans during the past year, according to the congressional research service. whereas the direct loan program, which we're shifting to, only serves 1,500 colleges versus the 4,421 and $19 billion versus the $68 billion. in other words, there's been a decision made by most colleges and universities in this country to go with the existing program, the ffel program, over the direct loan program. and i worry about what that shift might encounter. one of the things that's going

to happen at a time when unemployment in this country is 10% is there's going to be a loss in the private sector. the consumer banker association says that this bill threatens approximately 30,000 people's jobs nationwide. and that's all over the country because various banks make this kind of servicing dollars available. and, therefore, have employment in that area. so you're talking about potentially huge job loss in that area. i had introduced an amendment before the rules committee which -- with tom price from georgia, which would have indicated that we should hold this up until we get a study of the job loss. that, unfortunately, is not before us today. but the problem still remains. we're just not certain, madam chair woman, exactly what this will entail. if everything we hear about the bill is direct and all that money can be saved and the federal government is not going to hire a lot more people or mess it up in some other way in terms of cost savings, there may be a very valid argument

for the bill. if those things do not prove out and many things that we talk about on the floor don't prove out in practice, i think that would be problematical. and part of the problem is you're looking at 30,000 jobs, all of which are at risk, and you could argue about whether it's origination and servicing. the bottom line is some percentage of those jobs will be at risk. i am supportive of the amendment, to get back to the heart of why we are speaking right now. but i have some serious reservations of where we are going with the legislation and i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from new jersey. mr. adler: i thank the gentleman for supporting the amendment. may i inquire as to how much time i have remaining? the chair: the gentleman has three minutes remaining. mr. adler: i yield to my colleague, mr. andrews of new jersey, two minutes. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. andrews: i thank my friend for yielding and the committee expresses its strong support and appreciation for your good work on this amendment.

we support it, would urge a yes vote. again, this follows in the tradition of doing things for our virps, not just talking about them. with respect to the underlying bill in addressing the two points made from my friend from delaware. first, with respect to job loss. the concern that we all share about job loss is one of the reasons why this bill makes provisions for loan providers, private loan providers, who presently originate and service loans to continue to have a robust role in the servicing and processing and collection of loans. and we believe that the record will show as the years go through on this that the opportunities will in fact expand for those in that field. second, with respect to the issue of the cost of this bill, as the members know, under our rules we have an agreement that the congressional budget office is the authoritative source. and the congressional budget office has given an author stay tif analysis of --

authoritative analysis of this bill and it says that the change that's made, which is the cessation of the process of rewarding private institutions to take risk with taxpayers' money, a very logical change, that that change generates gross savings of $87 billion over the years that are subject to the analysis. and that in this bill, a $10 billion of that is dedicated to deficit reduction. so i think the issue is clear, the bill provides for a continuing robust role for private sector firms and workers, and the congressional budget office has author stay tifly -- authoritatively said that the savings will be $87 billion. the underlying bill is strong. the gentleman's amendment strengthens the bill. we support it. i yield back to him. the chair: the gentleman from delaware. mr. castle: madam chair woman, how much time do we have left? the chair: the gentleman has 1

1/2 minutes left. mr. castle: i understand the second speaker, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. andrews. and i said at the beginning, there are many good aspects to this bill if we believe that all those things are going to come together. as a matter of fact, it's been a little difficult for me to oppose it for that reason because if these things do happen, it's advantageousous. with all due respect to the authoritative analysis from c.b.o., i don't always believe everything from c.b.o. not that they don't do a good job. they are anticipating behavior as far as the future is concerned. i'm not sure if we are going to have $87 billion of savings to spread over all these other things. my hunch is there is going to be a lot of hiring to go on to do the origination and servicing which is there. and i'm also very concerned that the -- if we take away the origination, which is really what the bill does as far as the private lenders are concerned, you are going to get left with the servicing and that's going to mean a substantial reduction in jobs. i'm not suggesting we're going

to lose 30,000 jobs. i think we'll lose a substantial private sector jobs. i'm just red sent about that. and i hope we could have had some delay before we go into full thrust from now and find out five years from now that it's not quite as we promised. again, i do support the amendment but i have some underlying concerns about the legislation. i respect all that's being stated and frankly, i hope it's correct, because it could be in the best interest of our government. and with that i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. adler: thank you, madam chair woman. they fought for our freedom, they fought for our safety, they fought for an ever-greater america as a beacon of hope and freedom for the world. we can do something for them today by supporting this amendment. i urge my colleagues to vote yes on this amendment. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the question now occurs on the amendment offered by the gentleman from new jersey. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no.

in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 15 printed in house report 111-256. for what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut rise? mr. himes: madam chair, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 15 printed in house report 111-256 offered by mr. himes of connecticut. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 746, the gentleman from connecticut, mr. himes, and a member opposed, will each control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from connecticut. mr. himes: thank you, madam chair. i'd like to begin by thanking chairman miller and ranking member kline for their leadership on this very important bill. madam chair, the next century belongs to the nation which best educates its citizens today. if america wants to compete in the world economy, and by the way, madam chair, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. himes: if america wants to compete in the world economy, we need an educated work force. yet, the single greatest barrier to higher education can

be summed up in one word, cost. college tuition has gone up more than any other good or service in the last 20 years. the department of education tells us that students hold a staggering $714 billion in outstanding student loan debt. if we want students to succeed in the classroom we need to help them manage the financial commitments that got them there. and so as congress acts today to bring higher education within reach for millions more americans, we must promote access to the financial education that students need to make what is the most important financial decision of their young lives. recent reports estimate that between 30% and 40% of first and second-year students will be put into default at some point during the life of their loans. at the same time, a financial literacy survey said that americans between the ages of 18 and 34, 47% of them give themselves c, d's or f's on their knowledge of personal finance.

the amendment i offer today with my colleagues, congresswoman mccarthy and schwartz, makes several technical changes to the underlying bill which at no additional cost will help to ensure that states, nonprofits and private loan servicers who benefit from the new investments in college entertainment and completion made by this bill do their utmost to include high-quality financial literacy training and their efforts to help keep more of our kids in school and in the postsecondary degree of their choice. the himes-mccarthy-schwartz amendment enjoys support of the corporation for enterprise development, the institute for financial literacy, and i encourage my colleagues to vote in support of this amendment. i reserve the balance of my time. . the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? mr. kline: i rise to claim time in opposition although i'm going to support the amendment. the chair: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. kline: thank you, madam chair. this is a good, laudable goal. i certainly hope it works.

financial literacy is in dire straits at every stage of our development. i don't know that this will do the job, but i certainly like the direction it's going. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from connecticut. mr. himes: thank you, madam chair. i first would like to yield one minute to my colleague and fellow sponsor, the distinguished gentlelady from new york, mrs. mccarthy. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. mccarthy: thank you, mr. himes. i appreciate working with you and congresswoman schwartz for working to bring this important amendment to the floor. i want to also thank chairman miller, ranking member kleine, and the committee staff for their hard work on h.r. 22 -- 3221 and will provide $10 billion in deficit reduction. i also want to thank the chairman for working with me to include several positions in the bill related to school safety, classroom noise, childcare facilities, increasing college access for low-income and minority students. the amendment before us will

make five technical changes to the bill, straightens the financial literacy components. it has become apparent the lack of education among students and consumers about financial systems and products is one of the key elements of our nation's current economic crisis. in many cases consumers would pride on to financial institutions and sold them to debts they were not capable of paying. this has been a defining factor for the current economic crisis. this amendment seeks to better educate students and arm them with the knowledge they will keep -- to help them navigate the rough the waters in our economy. it's more important than ever that the americans become more informed consumers in order to prevent our economy from weakening further. i believe it is never too early or too late to learn about consumer economic, and personal finance concepts. this amendment is a good step that will hopefully put americans on a track toward fiscal responsibility and make a new again racial of informed consumers. i urge all my colleagues to support this bill.

the chair: the gentleman from connecticut. mr. himes: i would next like to yield one minute to my colleague and fellow sponsor, the distinguished gentlelady from pennsylvania, ms. schwartz. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. schwartz: thank you, madam speaker. i rise today in support of the himes-mccarthy-schwartz amendment which strengthens the financial literacy conditions in the student aid and fiscal responsibility act. as our country emerges from a recession that exposed the need for good financial planning and fiscal responsibilities, supporting financial literacy education is more important than ever. that is why i'm proud to work with my colleagues, mr. himes and mrs. mccarthy, on this amendment before us. the amendment makes several commonsense addition that is len courage financial literacy education for students. and important it will reach students early, well before they enter college, so that early financial planning and counseling can positively impact students' views that college is possible. that it's financially

accessible. it will enable students to develop sound financial habits be that they will carry with them through college and beyond. the student aid and fiscal responsibility act addresses important issues of college affordability. including how students and their families plan, save, and borrow for college. this amendment will strengthen the financial literacy provisions that i'm very pleased to see its inclusion in this bill. the chair: the gentleman from connecticut. mr. himes: i would finally yield one minute to my colleague and great leader in the area of financial literacy, the distinguished gentlelady from texas, miss john -- ms. johnson. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. johnson: thank you very much. i rise in support of the student aid and financial responsibility act and the himes-mccarthy-schwartz amendment on financial literacy. statistics for my state show there is a staggering 50% drop between the number of persons that are high school graduates and persons that have a bachelor's degree or higher.

this is below the national trend and i represent a district with a large percent of underrepresented groups and postsecondary education. preparation for postsecondary education starts far in advance of a student's enrollment in college. in fact, it is this preparation that got them accepted into college, the same should be said for student financial literacy and preparation for higher education. our people as well as our country are benefactors of broad-based financial literacy initiatives. we are only as rich as our poor citizens. enactment of this bill will go a long ways toward ensuring our young people do not fall into the current adult financial trends, including delinquency in paying bills, maintaining high credit card debt, as well as not establishing budget priorities for the most basic needs, including housing and food. i encourage my colleagues to vote for this legislation and this amendment. thank you. the chair: the gentlelady's time has expired. all time has expired.

the question is now on the amendment offered by the gentleman from connecticut. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. mr. himes: i ask for a recorded vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from connecticut will be postponed. it is now in order to consider amendment number 16, printed in house report 111-256. for what purpose does the the gentlewoman from ohio rise? ms. kilroy: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 16, printed in house report number 111-256, offered by ms. kilroy of ohio. the chair: -- ms. kilroy: i ask unanimous consent to bring up the amendment as modified by the form placed at the desk. the chair: the clerk will report the modification.

the clerk: modification in house report 16, offered by ms. kilroy of ohio, page 185, beginning on line 21, strike paragraph 2 and insert the following, two, our institutions of higher education eligible for assistance under title 3 or 5 of the higher education act of 1965 or consortia that includes such an institution. or three, are focused on serving low-income -- ms. kilroy: i ask unanimous consent to dispense with the reading. the chair: without objection. the reading is dispensed with. without objection, the amendment is modified. pursuant to house resolution 746, the gentlelady from ohio, ms. kilroy, and a member opposed will each control five minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentlelady from ohio. ms. kilroy: thank you, madam chair. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. kilroy: my amendment will help americans looking for jobs. my amendment will focus on getting the 55,000 unemployed

central ohioans in my district back working and also help veterans get the training that they and millions of unemployed americans need. to get that job. a job that will support a family and increase their wages. my amendment is possible because of the strong work of chairman miller and his committee and i thank him for that. for many, finding a new job will mean enrolling in school at a time when the costs of higher education have been steadily increasing. community colleges often represent the best and most affordable opportunity for individuals who need to obtain new skills but do not have the means to pay the tuition. columbus day community college in my district has been a source of pride because of the outstanding job they have done in these tough economic times to improve work force training. on their own they have created a special scholarship program that gives workers over the age

of 25 without degrees up to 3,500 for retraining. my amendment would ensure that columbus day could continue that program and will encourage community colleges across the country to focus on dislocated workers and veterans. my amendment would help all of our out-of-work constituents like the program at columbus state has already helped my constituent, ryan. raising a family of five he was laid off from his job at g.m. auto parts plant. but the scholarship program allowed him to retrain and pursue a passion to become a chef, get a full-time job, and support his family. not only did he receive a full-time job at a local restaurant, but he was also encouraged to open a catering business. his first job was a graduation party this summer that led to 14 new catering opportunities. madam chair, this bill will be historic because the opportunities it creates for

education for our children. my amendment will assure that this historic bill will also assist out-of-worker americans and veterans by getting them out of dead ends and into successful career paths. madam chair, i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? mr. kline: madam chair, i rise to claim time in opposition to the amendment although once again i do not plan to oppose the amendment. the chair: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. kline: thank you, madam chair. our hire education system -- higher education system should be focused on serving low-income and nontraditional students along with dislocated workers and veterans. in fact, some parts of the system are already working and working well. community colleges and proprietary institutions, for example, are addressing this need. i do not oppose prioritizing these populations that were providing grants for education and job training, but again this amendment proves that h.r. 3221 was crafted hastily

failing to adequately address the needs of students and job seekers. it creates a new program that duplicates many of the purposes of the existing job training system under the work force investment act, which is long overdue for authorization, i might add. those populations are receiving assistance today under w.i.a.. i also point out the perverse consequences of this bill coupled with this amendment. under h.r. 3221 we will likely see significant job losses creating those dislocated workers rather than adding to the number of dislocated workers, we should simply abandon this job killing bill. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady from ohio. ms. kilroy: may i inquire how much time i have? the chair: the gentlelady has 2 1/2 minutes remaining. ms. kilroy: i yield such time as he may consume to representative andrews from new

jersey. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. andrews: i thank the gentlelady for yielding. the committee expresses its strong support for the gentlelady's amendment. the amendment is very much about a person who is not simply seeking a new job like the story you told about ryan, like the gentlelady told about ryan, but who is seeking a new career. frankly this is the difference between the issues raised in the work force investment act, which we should re-authorize, and this bill. the work force investment act really focuses on switching from job to job and helping someone do that. the gentlelady's amendment and this bill focus on building a whole new life and a whole new career which is necessary for many of our people. they have to do it involuntarily, but it also makes that available for the persons who -- person who perhaps is doing it involuntarily. the gentlelady's amendment properly focuses on the 55,000 people in her district and millions of people across this country who find themselves involuntarily in a position where they must build a new career at a new life. her amendment rewards

institutions that are most inknow strafe and creative in achieving that goal. for these reasons we enthusiastically support the gentlelady's amendment and would urge a yes vote. i yield back to her. the chair: the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, madam chair. we are going to support this amendment. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentlelady from ohio. ms. kilroy: thank you, madam chair. i appreciate the support from my colleagues, my colleagues from across the aisle. it is time that we come together to address this issue of the unemployed in our country. this amendment is about them. it's about getting them the education, the jobs, and the training that will help them contribute to our economy and support their families. i thank you very much. ask for support from my colleagues for the amendment and for this bill. i yield back. the chair: the gentlelady yields back. the question now occurs on the amendment as modified offered by the gentlelady from ohio. all in favor say aye. opposed, no.

in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 17 printed in house report 111-256. for what purpose does the gentleman from idaho rise? mr. minnick: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 17, printed in house report number 111-256, offered by mr. minnick of idaho. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 746, the gentleman from idaho, mr. minnick, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from idaho. mr. minnick: madam chair, no group better exemplifies a power of what a college education can accomplish in building on practical life experiences than that of our nation's service men and women. so many of my states a and our nation's leaders grew into adulthood through the military and then with the benefit of a

quality college education, went on to serve their communities and countries in positions of significant leadership in all walks of life. . it's critical that the members of the armed services who show the extra initiative to earn college credit while in the service have the opportunity later to count those credits toward an advanced degree. i'm proud to say that my amendment to the student aid and fiscal responsibility act will enhance that opportunity by allowing service men and women to transfer academic credits earned while serving in the armed forces between institutions of higher education so as to benefit not only themselves but their families and their country. my amendment has been endorsed by the iraq and afghanistan veterans of america, the idaho division of veteran services,

and the idaho american legion. i'd like to thank chairman miller and members of the education and labor committee for their hard work on this legislation. i urge my colleagues to support the minnick amendment, and i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky rise? guthfwuth mr. speaker, i rise to claim time in opposition although i am not opposed to it. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. guthrie: this amendment is important, i think, because i have some military experience, i have some friends in military experience. as we send our men and women across the world to defend us, they do take advantage of college opportunities that so many people and so many institutions to offer our military. and when they come home, we should expect that those efforts should count towards their degree when they return home. i think this is very good to do, and i appreciate the gentleman from idaho bringing this forward, and i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from idaho. mr. minnick: i thank the gentleman and yield to the

gentleman from new jersey. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. andrews: i thank the author of the amendment for yielding, and the committee strongly supports his amendment and commends him for his excellent work. you know, no student should pay twice for the same course. if someone takes an english course and excels in it and learns a certain set of skills, he or she should not have to pay again and consume his or her time again a second time around at a different institution. this is even more true for the men and women who volunteer to serve this country in the armed forces. i think it's important that the house understand the benefits of mr. minnick's very wise amendment. if a young american today who's serving in afghanistan is able to access college credits, whether online or in person, and then he or she returns to his hometown and wants to transfer those credits so he or

she can then build on their education. what mr. minnick says is that's one of the standards that we are going to hold these institutions to to see how well they cooperate with the veteran that returns home. it makes sure that the veteran has extra leverage. if that course meets academic requirements and if the student learns he or she should, they are going to get the credit. so the veteran is not going to pay twice nor spend much time on that course. this is very important to a lot of our returning veterans and the committee enthusiastically embraces and supports the amendment by mr. minnick, and i yield back to him. the chair: the gentleman from kentucky. mr. guthrie: again, i want to say i agree. when our military men and women, they travel, they're temporary. when they travel away from their homes and they move around quite often, and the military's done an outstanding job of encouraging people to advance their degrees, advance in the ranks of noncommissioned officers as well as

commissioned officers now requires education and degrees. and i think it's important that we do this. that as they may be in afghanistan for a year and then back in fort campbell, kentucky, for a year or two and they're picking up different courses and when they get home and get on with their life and get back in the civilian sector they ought to put all that together into a clear path towards a degree. and i again want to appreciate you for bringing this forward, and i yield back my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from idaho. mr. minnick: i thank the gentleman from kentucky and appreciate the bipartisan support for this amendment. i'd like to ask for a recorded vote. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from idaho. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the gentleman from idaho. does the gentleman request a recorded vote? mr. minnick: thank you, madam chair. i'd like to ask for a recorded vote and yield back my time.

the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment will be -- offered by the gentleman from idaho will be postponed. it is now in order to consider amendment number 18 printed in house report 111-256. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia rise? >> madam chair, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 18 printed in house report 111-256 offered by mr. pierriello of virginia. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 746, the gentleman from virginia, mr. pierriello, and a member opposed, will each control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from virginia. mr. perriello: thank you, madam chair. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. perriello: today i rise in support of my amendment to h.r. 3221, the student aid and fiscal responsibility act of 2009. simply stated, a well-educated citizenry is the bedrock of democracy.

h.r. 3221 will help renew america's global leadership in education. the bill will accomplish this important goal by making college more accessible, reforming quality early education opportunities and by strengthening community colleges and training programs to help build a highly skilled and innovative 21st century work force that is ready for the riggers of a global economy. study after study have validated the important role of early childhood education plays in a student's future educational success. u.s. secretary of health and human services, kathleen sebelius, recently testified before congress noting that too many children are going to school without the basic skills to succeed in kindergarten and beyond. the secretary stated what many of us already know. school that start off behind their peers are more likely to stay behind throughout their school lives and into adulthood. meaning they never reach their full potential. as a representative of a rural district, i know all too well the myriad of challenges faced by our rural public schools.

many of which are faced with the evolving responsibility of providing our children with a first-class education while operating on less than adequate resources. in light of these disparities and the critical nexus between early childhood education, i believe that affirmative steps must be taken to ensure that all fun schools, regardless of gee fwraffic location, receive equal treatment and federal education reform initiatives. to that end, the amendment i offer today would require that those states participating in the u.s. department of education's quality pathways grant program will evaluate and report to the secretary of education a description of any disparity by geographic area, rural and urban, that exists in ongoing high-quality early learning programs for low-income children. the amendment would also require that participating states outline the steps the state will take to address any such disparities. the congressional budget office has determined that this amendment will have no direct effect on federal direct

spending on revenues and thus would have no pay-go impact. the key here is to do two things. first, to focus on the vital issue of early childhood development and education. and, second, not to punish those rural areas where disparity exists but rather to reward those areas that have identified that problem and laid out a plan for moving forward. in is not about punishing but about rewarding success, rewarding innovation and moving forward, particularly in those crucial rural areas where it's so important that our children, your young people get these same opportunities. as a nation we have an responsibility to ensure all children have access to a high-quality education and the american dream. i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this amendment and the underlying legislation so that we may move forward with our commitment to america's future. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky rise? mr. guthrie: madam speaker, i rise to claim time in

opposition although i am not opposed to the amendment. the chair: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. guthrie: thank you. as i understand it, the purpose of this amendment is to ensure states applying for this new pre-k funding understanding and geographic disparity between early learning programs for low-income children and consider steps to reduce this disparity. this amendment is a positive step and may even move us closer to ensure that more low-income children are helped by this program, something that's not clearly spelled out in the bill. i reserve my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from virginia. mr. perriello: i thank the gentleman for his remarks and i yield to the gentleman from new jersey. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. andrews: i thank my friend for yielding and express the committee's strong support for his well-thought out amendment. the eam reflects embracing three principles. the first is deficit reduction because the underlying bill reduces the deficit by $10 billion. the second is the value of high-quality pre-kindergarten education for the children of this country. and the third is the principle of fairness, that the quality

of a child's education should not depend on his or her zip code. and what mr. pierriello's amendment is to say that states that receive these early learning grants will have to pay attention to the fact. to discern any patterns of inequality that exists and talk about what they're going to do to fix them. we think that's a very important point, and we commend mr. pierriello for listening to people in his district. i know he represents a lot of very small counties and local subdivisions but i know he doesn't treat anyone's concerns as small. and by raising this amendment, he is raising the concerns of those constituents. the committee enthusiastically supports this amendment and i yield back to mr. pierriello. the chair: the gentleman from kentucky. mr. guthrie: we yield back our time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from virginia. mr. perriello: madam chair, i ask that my colleagues support this amendment and i yield back my time. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the

gentleman from virginia. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 19 printed in house report 111-256. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? mr. schauer: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 19 printed in house report 111-256 offered by mr. schauer of michigan. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 746, the gentleman from michigan, mr. schauer, and a member opposed, will each control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan. mr. schauer: thank you, madam speaker. my amendment gives priority in awarding federal grants to schools, states and nonprofits to encourage dislocated workers to complete their degrees. in the last two years, 6.5 million americans have lost their jobs. and many of them remain

dislocated workers. these individuals are in need of retraining in a new field that will help them transition in the new economy. and nowhere is this more true than in my home state of michigan. i want to tell you about ray roddy in hillsdale, michigan. his home county, by the way, has an unemployment rate of 20%. mr. roddy was laid off from his job making engine components and realized he would need further education to find another job. he enrolled at jackson community college and is working hard to become a nurse. many, like ray, need retraining to regain employment in a new field but are unable to find it. now, within the access and completion innovation fund, my amendment will give priority to degree completion, something that matters to people like ray roddy. h.r. 3221 will make key

investments in providing americans with affordable and accessible education. my amendment will ensure that those who have been hurt the most in this tough economy, like ray, aren't lost and are provided with opportunities for retraining to get back on their feet. i would now yield to mr. etheridge of north carolina. the chair: for what period of time? mr. schauer: for -- the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. etheridge: madam speaker, i rise to engage in a colloquy with the gentleman from california, the distinguished chairman of the education and labor committee. mr. miller: i yield to the distinguished gentleman from north carolina. mr. etheridge: madam chair, yesterday, we voted to accept an amendment to ensure that local education agencies that contain a military installation selected for closure under the brac process would qualify for

access to reserve funds for distressed areas. mr. chairman, not only does base closures under the brac process affect local communities, but also do rapidly expansions do to the realignment. the significant influx in military families while coming into our communities result in a immediate and significant enrollment increases in our local schools and community colleges. these rapid populations put a strain on local budgets already distressed by the economic downturn. mr. chairman, i'm hopeful that as we move to conference we can contemplate how we might assist these communities as well. mr. miller: will the gentleman yield? the chair: does the gentleman wish to yield additional time? mr. schauer: i yield the gentleman from california one minute. mr. miller: i realize that the brac process has effects those dealing with base closures and base exfangses. we might take a look at how we

may assist these communities in the conference of this legislation. mr. etheridge: i thank the gentleman from california and for his work on this issue and this legislation and i yield back. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky rise? mr. guthrie: i rise to claim time in opposition although i do not oppose the amendment. the chair: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. guthrie: i'd like to -- the purpose of this amendment is to ensure dislocated workers are encouraged to complete through -- through the grant process and we think that's a worthwhile goal. also, since i have time, is to compliment what the chairman just said, chairman miller on the brac. i actually represent fort knox which is a big winner in the brac. i know a lot of communities were distressed before but fort knox is going to be expanding. i look forward to see what's going to come out of conference and be an opportunity to be supportive of that. i appreciate that very much and i yield back my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from michigan. mr. schauer: i reserve the balance of my time.

the chair: the gentleman has yielded back. the gentleman needs to claim his time. mr. schauer: i'd yield to the gentleman from new jersey. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. andrews: i thank the author for yielding and the committee strongly supports this amendment. this is another example of making sure that the educational opportunities in this bill are focused on american workers who most need the help, those who find themselves with their lives disrupted, their finances in at that timers and in a lot of trouble. and the author just told a very moving story about one of his constituents who fits that description, but we want the house to do is move this legislation to success today and help the kind of individuals that the author talked about. we thank him for offering it and express our support. the chair: the gentleman from michigan. mr. schauer: madam chair, i ask my colleagues support this amendment and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the question now occurs on the amendment offered by the gentleman from michigan. all in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair,

the ayes have it. the amendment is -- mr. schauer: madam chairman, i request a recorded vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from michigan will be postponed. . it is now in order to consider amendment number 20, printed in house report number 111-256. for what purpose does the gentleman from new mexico rise? mr. teague: madam chairwoman, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 20, printed in house report number 111-256, offered by mr. teague of new mexico. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 746, the gentleman from new mexico, mr. teague, and a member opposed will each control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new mexico. mr. teague: madam chairwoman, i rise today to offer the first

of two amendments i have to h.r. 3221, the student aid and fiscal responsibility act of 2009. i would like to thank chairwoman slaughter and chairman miller for allowing the house to debate my proposals. madam chairwoman, this amendment makes three commonsense changes to the american graduation initiative and the student aid and fiscal responsibility act. the american graduation initiative makes a historic investment in our community colleges. in my home state of new mexico, community colleges enroll over 51,000 students. these institutions of higher education provide critical pathways for many nontraditional students to receive an education and they provide training for workers looking to get hired on in a local industry. my amendments will help the community colleges in my district access resources to serve the many veterans across new mexico and help my

constituents get training for energy jobs which represent most of the good-paying jobs available in southern new mexico. my first amendment makes sure that the programs geared toward helping our veterans be successful in school are given priority in receiving grants. i consider one of my most important responsibilities in congress to be looking out for the interest of our veterans. that's why i worked for and earned a seat on the house veterans' affairs committee and that's why i have introduced this amendment and other legislation on their behalf. by adopting this amendment, we will make sure that our veterans are at the front of the line in receiving the benefits of the bill. and after this service, they have so selflessly given to our country, they deserve to be at the front of the line. i encourage my colleagues to vote yes on this amendment and show our veterans our priority by giving them priority under the american graduation initiative. the next change makes sure that

schools can use grant funds to establish, enhance, or expand programs that are geared towards training personnel who can serve our veterans. this change will allow schools to use money from this bill to train workers to serve our veterans and v.a. hospitals, clinics, and centers across america. and it could mean we'll be be training the mental health professionals we need to address the growing problem of posttraumatic stress disorder. the return of the soldiers from afghanistan and iraq is putting a tremendous strain on our already understaffed veterans administration. we must start training workers to fill in these positions. this cannot happen overnight and we must start making investments in solving this problem today. the last part of my amendment will help schools in my district train students for energy jobs. in the northeast part of my district, they are looking for wind turbine technicians, in the southeast we need skilled hands in the oil field. no matter which part of the

energy industry somebody wants to work in, they should be able to get that training they need at the community college in their town. so my amendment aims to make it easier for schools to use grant funds to establish, enhance, or expand programs that train workers for careers in the energy related fields. a trained energy work force will help us produce more energy in america and producing more energy in america is the only way we can end our dependence on foreign oil and make our nation secure. i urge my colleagues to support this commonsense amendment and i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky rise? mr. guthrie: i rise to claim time inp opposition though i am not opposed to the amendment. the chair: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. guthrie: the purpose of this amendment is twofold. it gives priority for applicants for the community college grant programs serving veterans, students who are veterans, and also will allow expand in energy related

fields. we do not oppose the amendment. i yield back my time. the chair: the gentleman from new mexico. mr. teague: madam chairwoman, i'm happy to yield one minute to the gentleman from new jersey. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. andrews: i thank the gentleman from new mexico the author of the amendment for yielding. the committee strongly supports his very well thought out amendment. madam chair, one of the things that i think we need to highlight about this amendment is its wisdom in understanding that perhaps the people who are best suited to work in our v.a. system are those who served the country themselves in the armed forces. the gentleman talked about the fact that perhaps some of our returning veterans will be trained to work in mental health services for work in v.a. clinics and v.a. hospitals. who would better understand the challenges and issues that one of our returning vets is facing than someone who has walked in his or her shoes? we think that among the many good ideas in this amendment,

that focus on training people for the v.a. system makes an awful lot of sense. obviously as well the energy component of the gentleman's amendment makes a great deal of sense as well. so the committee thanks the gentlemanner for offering this amendment and would urge people in both parties to vote yes and support it. i yield back to the author. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new mexico. mr. teague: i thank the gentleman from new jersey for his comments. i urge all of my colleagues to vote yes for this bill. i yield back. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from new mexico. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. for what purpose does -- it is now in order to consider amendment number 21 printed in house report number 111-256. for what purpose does the gentleman from new mexico rise? mr. teague: madam chairwoman, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 21, printed in house report number

111-256, offered by mr. teague of new mexico. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 746, the gentleman from new mexico, mr. teague, and a member opposed will each control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new mexico. mr. teague: i rise to speak in support of my deficit reduction amendment to h.r. 3221, the student aid and fiscal responsibility act of 2009. first of all i would like to thank chairwoman slaughter and chairman miller for allowing the amendment to come to the floor today. my amendment is simple and like a lot of simple commonsense legislation, it's not long, either. here's what it says, all savings and federal expenditures not otherwise expended as a result of enactment of this act shall be made available for the reduction of the federal deficit. in other words, where we don't spend a dollar, we save a dollar. madam chairwoman, america is drowning in debt. on the day that i was sworn in,

the national debt was about $10,600,000,000. this year alone the congressional budget office expects we'll add another $1.4 trillion in deficit. this is clearly an unsustainable course. our government must start practicing some fiscal responsibility. businessmen like me have to balance their books. government needs to try and do the same. this bill will put $10 billion toward reducing the deficit, but if we are going to completely close our annual deficits, we need a sustained solution. that's why i'm also a strong supporter of statutory pay-as-you-go legislation which says that congress can't spend a dollar without saving a dollar. today with the passage of this legislation, we save $10 billion of taxpayer money. with the passage of my amendment, we take that $10 billion and we lock it away for the purpose of deficit reduction. we lock it away to make sure our children and grandchildren don't have to pay at all.

so let's save this $10 billion, but let's also find a sustainable solution to reducing our deficit. that means tightening our belts when we need to and of course passing statutory pay-go into law. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky rise? mr. guthrie: i rise to reserve time in the opposition even though i'm not opposed to the amendment. the chair: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. guthrie: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. guthrie: when we are talking about the $10 billion savings to the deficit and using c.b.o. numbers, the number that we like to talk about if you look at the overall cost of the bunt -- budget, c.b.o. numbers, the discretionary side, they are transferring money out of the mandatory into the discretionary side for administration. and also as we expand pell grants with this bill will expand pell grants and the

mandatory side which this bill scores, it doesn't score what will happen to the discretionary side. part of pell grants are discretionary. if you expand pell grant am -- applicants in the mandatory side, it will increase the others. c.b.o. numbers is $13.5 billion cost to the system that's more than the $10 billion that we are putting into deficit reduction now. we'll have to increase more than we are putting into the deficit reduction. the otherer thing is, these numbers were scored by c.b.o. in march and the most up-to-date numbers people participating in the pell grants as of august now that here in september, the august numbers believe it will be $11.4 billion when added using the most up-to-date numbers. those are real numbers we could talk about. we are already up to i guess it's $25 billion of cost that this will have when we are talking about $10 billion in savings. the one thing that wasn't taken into account is either -- these

are numbers that could come to pass or not. those first two numbers i think are real. the other is the $33 billion that c.b.o. says hasn't identified that are market risk to the program. i know those market risk you could have them, could you not have them. i'll cede that. but i do believe the discretionary side of pell and most up-to-date numbers, is about a $25 billion cost of the bill. reserve my time. the chair: the gentleman from new mexico. mr. teague: madam chairwoman, i'm happy to yield one minute to the gentleman from new jersey. mr. andrews: madam chair, i thank the gentleman for yielding. we are in strong support of his amendment. since his very first day in the house, the gentleman has worked diligently on the issue of addressing our deficit and reducing our debt. by supporting this amendment and by supporting this bill, he's following that course in a couple of ways. first, he's understanding that reducing entitlements is a key to reducing the deficit.

and this bill has a net reduction of $10 billion in mandatory spending as validated by the congressional budget office. it is one of the single most significant entitlement reductions in several years. and the gentleman is to be commended for supporting it. second, the amendment shows understanding that economic growth is a powerful way to reduce our deficit and therefore our debt. and by supporting the investment and the education of the american people, we are supporting more jobs and more economic growth. finally, i would commend the gentleman for making sure that every dollar of that $10 billion in entitlement reduction will in fact be dedicated to deficit reduction. the gentleman has offered a very good amendment. the committee strongly supports it and urges a yes vote. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from kentucky. mr. guthrie: thank you, mr. speaker. when you take $10 billion and save in a mandatory program f. we agree from the c.b.o. numbers from the march score

instead of using the most up-to-date ones, if you take $10 billion and save it from a mandatory program, i applaud that and i applaud the amendment because we should save toward deficit reduction. if the bill allows you to take $10 billion and put to deficit reduction but in the discretionary side of the counter a tax dollar is a tax dollar, requires you to spend $13.5 billion on transferring the administrative costs of the program to discretionary, and then the additional pell grants that are going to have to be spend spent by the discretionary side through the appropriations process, so when you save $10 billion here, but you spent $13.5 billion there, then you're raising the deficit $3.5 billion. i don't know any other way to look at it. i reserve my time. . the chair: the gentleman from kentucky reserves his time. the gentleman from new mexico. mr. teague: you know, mr. chairman, the c.b.o. says it

will generate savings. my amendment says that these savings will go to paying off the deficit. i yield back my time. the chair: the gentleman from new mexico yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from kentucky. mr. guthrie: i yield back. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from new mexico. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. mr. teague: mr. chairman, may i ask for a roded vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from new mexico will be postponed. it is now in order to consider amendment number 22 printed in house report 111-256. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. miller: mr. chairman, i ask unanimous consent to speak out of term for two minutes. the chair: without objection. mr. miller: mr. chairman, it is now time, as the chair has noted, to amendment number 15 by mr. souder. my understanding is that mr. souder will not be offering that amendment, that he and mr.

perlmutter, the gentleman from colorado, have had discussions around this amendment and they have agreed that we should work this out in the conference committee. i have agreed to their discussions, and they're pursuing those at this time. >> will the gentleman yield? mr. miller: i'd be happy to yield. mr. perlmutter: thank you, mr. miller. mr. souder and i had a conversation. i think we'll reach a good compromise that will be good for the bill. i've committed, as have you, to work with mr. souder in a conference committee to get that done. mr. miller: i thank the gentleman. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. it is now in order to consider amendment number 23 printed in house report 111-256. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona rise? mr. flake: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 23 printed in house report 111-256 offered by mr. flake of arizona. the chair: pursuant to house

resolution 746, the gentleman from arizona, mr. flake, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona. mr. flake: i thank the chair. this amendment i believe is not noncontroversial. it simply ensures that the funds within the new grant programs created in this bill are not earmarked. but rather that they are awarded on a competitive or a formula basis. it's important that we add prohibited language here. there is prohibited language in one of the sections of the bill but it does not apply to the entire bill. we need to make sure that the entire bill, that these new grant programs are not earmarked. as we've seen in the past, unfortunately, even when congress says we have no intention of earmarking these accounts or this bill, we do. the best example perhaps is the homeland security bill. we were told when the homeland security legislation came through first and we created the department that we wouldn't be earmarking these funds. well, just took us a few years and now there are literally hundreds of earmarks in the homeland security bill.

many of the accounts that should be awarded on a competitive basis, disaster mitigation and other things, are now earmarked. and so when communities and organizations apply for this funding it's already earmarked and they can't even compete. we don't want this to happen in other areas as well. so it's important that this amendment is accepted. i believe that it will be. it is consistent with legislation that i've offered before to the beach act a couple years ago. that was voted on, roll call and approved later with a paycheck fairness act passed last year. this amendment was accepted by voice vote. most recently it was accepted by voice vote on h.r. 1262, the water quality investment act. and h.r. 2200, the t.s.a. re-authorization bill. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from arizona reserves the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? mr. andrews: i rise to claim

time in opposition to the amendment although i am not opposed to the amendment. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. andrews: the committee supports the amendment. the clear intention of the underlying bill is that the funds be awarded on the formulas and competitive basis stated in the bill. there is no intention that any be earmarked. i would just for the record say that our support of the amendment should not be read to imply that we do not support connelly sponsored projects and other context. but in this one we agree with the gentleman's amendment and urge its acceptance. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from arizona. mr. flake: i wish the gentleman would make that statement, but i don't expect that here certainly. and i am pleased that this amendment will be accepted and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from arizona yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. andrews: i yield back. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from arizona. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, no.

in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 24 printed in house report 111-256. for what purpose does -- for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky rise? mr. guthrie: mr. chairman, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 24 printed in house report 111-256 offered by mr. guthrie of kentucky. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 746, the gentleman from kentucky, mr. guthrie, and a member opposed, each will control 10 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from kentucky. mr. guthrie: thank you, mr. chairman. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. guthrie: our amendment accomplishes -- i'm pleased to join ranking member kline in offering this amendment, and our amendment does not gut the ecasla. this amendment supports the ffel program. it ensures stability and continuity for both students and schools to ensure the continued -- ensuring continued

access for student loans act, or ecasla, through 2014, which is with the rest of the higher education act, which congress passed last year. as long as we're facing a shortage, ecasla makes sure there is no interruption in funding for students and families. as the market recovers, ecasla offers flex ict for private capital to return. even in today's weakened economy, a substantial portion of loans originated in ffel program are made with private capital. we know that the ecasla programs are working on campuses all across the country. we heard from a group of financialed a administrators that say that ecasla is working. you don't have to talk to financial administration. i submit that 4,400 colleges and universities still participate in the ffel program and they voted with their feet. if they felt that ecasla is not working they would have joined the direct program by now but they haven't. i heard from colleges and universities across my district from large public state universities to small

independent private colleges, and they've all shared with me how the ffel program benefits their students by offering the services of flexibility and choice along with additional services. let's not forget how this helps students. second, our amendment will drive down the deficit. ecasla proves that you can save taxpayer money while preserving an effective program. in fact, we expect to generate $13 billion in savings over the next five years. poll after poll shows that american people are deeply concerned about the deficit. and we should invest in future generations by putting the savings towards deficit reduction. third, we chart a path toward the future by pursuing a comprehensive renewal of student lending. by extending ecasla through 2014, we create a vital window of opportunity to have real student loan reform. we would study the student lending system and propose a new framework for stable cost-effective financing. we'll remove politics from the

discussion on the focus on what matters preserving choice and competition for borrowers, preventing waste and fraud and abuse, maintaining value added benefits like financial literacy and counseling, ensuring stability in a weak economy and retaining private capital and avoiding a massive infelix of debt on our next generate. this amendment does not create the same long-term entitlement expansions that's been called for in this bill. republicans care about the condition of our schools and about pre-k education and about community colleges and their role in developing our work force. but this is the wrong place and the wrong way to address these challenges. we can invest in students without crippling them with runaway entitlement spending. this is a straightforward amendment based on extending a bipartisan solution. i urge my colleagues to support this amendment. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from kentucky reserves the balance of his time. for what purpose does the

gentleman from new jersey rise? mr. andrews: mr. chair, i rise in opposition to the amendment and i will oppose the amendment. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for 10 minutes. mr. andrews: mr. chairman, this amendment recognizes the need for a substantial reform in the federal student loan program. it recognizes that the practice of using taxpayer money to reward private institutions to take risks not with their own money but with taxpayer money doesn't make any sense. so there is recognition of this problem, and that recognition is shared by the underlying bill. but here is where the underlying bill parts company from the amendment, and it's why we oppose it. there's a huge difference between these two approaches on what to do. the approach that the minority favors saves about $17 billion less than the approach that the underlying bill favors. it's a reform that continues

unwisely, in my judgment, the practice of using taxpayer money to subsidize private institutions who take a risk with taxpayer money. and so rather than continue those subsidies, the underlying bill makes some very different choices. and here's what the difference in the choices are in this $17 billion difference. the underlying bill says, let's spend that money so a returning veteran could get a pell grant in addition to their g.i. benefits and continue their education. they would spend the $17 billion on bank subsidies. our bill recognizes the fact that community colleges are burgeoning with new enrollees who need an education because of the tumultuous circumstances in our economy. our bill says, let's spend the $17 billion to strengthen those community colleges. the amendment says, let's spend it on bank subsidies.

there are students as we speak who are attending schools, that are taking classes in broom closets, former boiler rooms because their schools don't have adequate places to teach children. schools that are more than 100 years old where children are learning about the civil war when buildings were built at the time of the civil war. our bill says, let's invest some of that $17 billion in upgrading the quality of those schools and putting americans back to work. the amendment says, no, let's spend it on bank subsidies. and finally, there's a choice about early childhood. our bill says that we value and want to invest in the reading and math skills of a 4-year-old or a 5-year-old so he or she can excel as a student, succeed as a worker and taxpayer so it makes an historic investment in

quality early childhood education around this country. their bill favors bank subsidies. we think our approach is right. at this time i'd yield to the chairman of the full committee to continue the argument. mr. miller: i thank the gentleman. my colleague on the other side of the aisle said that this legislation is the wrong way and the wrong place to make this investment. he's got it exactly backwards. this is the exact way to make this investment. to take the savings by cutting the subsidies to the lenders and recycling those on behalf of families and students and our community institutions so that we can expand the educational opportunities in this country. we cannot continue just to wring our hands about our competitive place in the world, about the need for new engineers, new scientists, new math me tigses, -- mathematicians, a skilled and technologically fit work force in this country. we must do something about it. and with the obama

administration has said and the leadership of the -- under the leadership of the president and the secretary of education is that we're going to do something about it now, and we're going to provide additional money for pell grants. we are going to provide additional money for community colleges. we're going to provide additional money for early childhood education and to provide additional opportunities for access and completion of that educational opportunity. it's not enough that young people start college. it's important that they finish college, and we've got to do better at that. and we're going to do it in a fiscally sound manner. we're going to pay for it because there's enough money in those exorbitant subsidies that we pay decade after decade that was first raised to the consciousness of this congress by president bush's office of management and budget that kept showing us the comparison. if you ran the direct loan program, you would save a huge amount of money for the taxpayers. finally, this congress under this administration is taking the leadership to take that

money and recycle it on behalf of our families and students. so i thank the gentleman for yielding. i just want to say this is the right time, the right place and the right way to do this, and i thank him for his support in opposition to this amendment. mr. andrews: we reserve the balance of our time. the chair: the gentleman from new jersey reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from kentucky. mr. guthrie: i yield three minutes to the gentleman from minnesota. the chair: the gentleman from minnesota is recognized for three minutes. mr. kline: thank you, mr. chairman. i thank the gentleman for yielding. and we clearly have some differences of opinion on this legislation as often happens in this body. i want to underscore a couple of things that the underlying bill by mandating the public option, mandating a government takeover of an industry does expand the government's role, it creates new programs, it creates new expenses, it will cost jobs in the private sector , and when you remove the

budget gimmicks and you look at the latest numbers from the congressional budget office, it is clear that it will add to the deficit. . it will add to the debt. we ever looking at an underlying bill here that says it's better if we turn over to the department of education and the treasury the responsibility of lending $100 billion a year to students. and getting the interest back from those loans. of course we don't have the $100 billion. we are running a deficit this year, $1.6 trillion. and we are looking at a debt in 10 years of $21 trillion. so in order for the government now this huge bank to have the money to lend, the government's going to have to go somewhere, china perhaps, somewhere and borrow that money so that it can lend the money. it seems to me a strange time

to be doing this. i think the underlying bill is flawed. i think it is a rush to a government takeover. it is going to add to our deficit. and so i rise in strong support of this amendment which says let's take advantage of the private sector, let's see if there is a way that we can strengthen it and encourage it. let's take some time and continue with the bipartisan agreement of -- and look at the program before we push precipitously the entire industry into the hands of the government. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. andrews: inquire of the chair how much time we have remaining on our side? the chair: both sides have five minutes remaining. mr. andrews: before i yield the gentleman from new york, it's very important for the members to understand that the alternative proposal, substitute guts the early childhood investment. guts the increase in pell grant, guts the aid to community college.

and guts the other investments in education. the historically black colleges, hispanic serving institutions, it takes away that investment, we think it's unwise. at this time i would yield three minutes to the gentleman from new york. the chair: the gentleman from new york is recognized for three minutes. mr. bishop: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i rise in opposition to the amendment and i urge my colleagues to vote no on this amendment. frankly i'm surprised. over the last two days we have heard a great deal of -- from our friends on the other side of the aisle about the deficit, about which we all quite correctly should be concerned. and frankly i thought that their substitute amendment would address that issue in a very forceful way. this amendment does not. this amendment leaves in place a program that is wasteful and expensive. it leaves in place a program that costs approximately $8 billion to $9 billion more per year than that which we are

proposing to take its place. the direct loan program. what this amendment essentially says is that over the next five years the federal government gets to do the heavy lifting of this loan program, the federal government gets to do the heavy lifting of providing the capital, it gets to do the heavy lifting of guaranteeing the amounts that are loaned and the private lenders get to walk away with the profits. i don't see how any reasonable person can think that that is a situation that we can allow to stand. what the amendment also says is it says to needy students, hope you can get by. hope can you make it as you try to pay your bills. we'd love to help, but we've got these lenders that are counting on huge profits and we've got to make sure that we provide for them. our proposal, the underlying bill, says quite the opposite. our proposal says that we are going to pay -- take federal tax dollars and put them to

their highest possible use in this circumstance. and that is helping needy students go to college. every one of us, virtually every one of us that has the privilege of serving in this chamber is here because we had the opportunity to seek a higher education. what this -- what our bill does, the underlying bill does, is it says to everyone else that's out there that has aspirations of their own, that we are going to help you get your slice of the american dream, and in doing so we build a stronger nation because we build a nation that can compete on equal footing with the rest of the world. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from kentucky. mr. guthrie: thank you, mr. chairman. the 2014 number is when the higher education act is re-authorized and we feel it would be appropriate to do it -- we have -- when the markets are turning around, when they do turn around, the heavy

lifting, we are at a unique time last year. i wasn't in the congress at the time last year, when bipartisan group came together to do a casa to preserve and work both republicans and democrats together. all we are asking is we continue that until the higher education is authorized. during that time have the commission study and see what program we should go. we did talk a lot about deficit reduction because quite frankly i think that's the most important thing in the country. if we look at c.b.o. numbers, when you save $10 billion in a mandatory spending program, but spend $13.5 billion in discretionary spending program, using c.b.o. numbers, then you are not putting 10d billion to the deficit if you are spending $13.5 billion in discretionary spending. because as the pell grants expand on the mandatory side, they also expand in the discretionary side. so when a taxpayer sends their dollar to washington, d.c., they don't say, they don't earmark it for discretionary or mandatory, it comes here and

it's spent. so the underlying bill using c.b.o. numbers, i'm not going to bring in the market risk because we could argue that, some people say that's $33 billion, we could argue that. but in real hard numbers, spending -- transferring administration and the pell grant discretionary side says the underlying bill is a $3.5 bill addition to the deficit. i reserve my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. andrews: the majority side has no further speakers but does have the right to close. i would inquire through the chair of the minority if it's yielding back. mr. guthrie: i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from new jersey. mr. andrews: we would respectfully ask that the house disapprove this amendment. vote against it. i did want to return to one of the fiscal arguments we heard from my friend from minnesota that he's right, that the idea of borrowing money from central banks around the world is not desirable to anyone here. and he's right.

that we should embark on an effort to reduce our deficit and eventually reduce that debt. i would respectfully say he's wrong with his further characterization of this issue. what the status quo does is to borrow that very same money, which none of us wants to borrow, and then turn around and use it to reward private lending institutions who are taking risk with taxpayer money. the issue is not whether the taxpayers are at risk, the issue is how they will be at risk. the existing status quo, which i believe the minority through this amendment shows that it understands needs changed, puts the taxpayers' money at risk and then rewards private institutions for putting the taxpayers' money at risk. that simply makes no sense. with respect to the fiscal argument about the $87 billion and the cost and discretionary spending, there is one that's something that's clearly known

and something that's subject to dispute. what's clearly known that the congressional budget office has said is there will be $87 billion in gross savings under this bill. what happens each year under discretionier side is for the house to work its -- discretionary side is for the house to work its will and decide. if you believe in early childhood education, pell grants, community colleges, in our historically black colleges and universities, in our hispanic serving institutions and other minority serving institutions, and if you believe in $10 billion of of deficit reduction, the right course is to vote against this substitute, vote for the underlying bill. we yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from kentucky. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. the gentleman from kentucky. mr. guthrie: mr. chairman, recorded vote is requested. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from kentucky will be

postponed. pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18 , proceedings will now resume on those amendments printed in house report 111-256, on which further proceedings were postponed in the following order. amendment number 2 by mr. hoekstra of michigan. amendment number 4 by mrs. mcmorris rodgers from washington. am numbered 7 by ms. foxx of north carolina. amendment number 17 by mr. minnick of idaho. amendment number 19 by mr. schauer of michigan. amendment number 21 by mr. teague of new mexico. amendment number 24 by mr. guthrie of kentucky. the chair will reduce to five minutes the time for any electronic vote after the first vote in this series. the unfinished business is request for recorded vote on amendment number 2 printed in house report 111-256 by the gentleman from michigan, mr. hoekstra, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by

voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 2, printed in house report number 111-256, offered by mr. hoekstra of michigan. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for recorded voded vote will ri be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device, this will be a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 151. the nays are 252. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on amendment number 4 printed in house report 111-256 by the gentlewoman from washington, mrs. mcmorris rodgers, on which further proceedings were postponed and which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 4, printed in house report number 111-256, offered by mrs. madam speaker -- mcmorris rodgers of

the chair: a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: the yeas are 157. the nays are 251. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on amendment number 7 printed in house report 111-256, by the gentlewoman from north carolina, ms. foxx, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 7, printed in house report number 111-256, offered by ms. fox of north carolina. the chair: recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]