Students
and
Supporters
Claim
Partial
Victory
in
Higher
Education
Act
Drug
Provision
Vote
5/26/00
On May 25, members of the House Education and Workforce Committee met to markup H.R. 4504, a bill making technical and policy amendments to the Higher Education Act (HEA), including the HEA drug provision. The drug provision, which originally passed as a amendment to the Higher Education Act of 1998, delays or denies federal financial aid eligibility to individuals with a misdemeanor or felony drug conviction. Set to take effect on July 1, 2000, the provision threatens the educational futures of hundreds of thousands of young people. This approaching reality ignited a nationwide student reform movement to eliminate the provision from the HEA. The wording of H.R. 4504 includes language that will limit the applicability of the drug provision to offenses taking place during a semester for which a student is receiving aid. Though thousands will still be affected by this newer version of the bill, thousands will be spared. At the same time, however, the committee tightened rules regarding aid applicants who leave the drug question blank. With half of the 10 million FAFSA financial aid applications processed earlier this month, a startling 11% of applicants -- more than half a million people -- had failed to answer the drug question, as opposed to only 3,000 answering in the affirmative as having a drug conviction. The Department of Education has sent warning letters to applicants not answering the question but has allowed them to remain eligible. Under the new rules those students -- hundreds of thousands, perhaps a million, when all the applications are processed -- will be ineligible for federal aid unless they subsequently answer the question. This partial concession by Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN), the original creator of the drug provision, is a victory for student activists. Over the past year, thousands of students and other reformers nationwide had urged their representatives to support H.R. 1053, a bill by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) to eliminate the provision, and over 20 student governments, including some of the nation's largest campuses and multi-school organizations, endorsed a resolution calling for H.R. 1053's passage. Earlier this month, students at Hampshire College voted in a campus-wide referendum to approve a $10,000 loan fund for convicted drug offenders losing aid under Souder's law. The mounting national opposition to the HEA drug provision was reflected in the debate over an amendment offered by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) that would have repealed it. During the debate session leading up to the vote, almost all the Democrats on the committee were present to pillory Souder's provision. Though eventually voting with him, Souder's Republican colleagues on the committee nevertheless abandoned him to defend himself unaided from criticisms leveled by ten passionate Democrats. Rep. Bill Clay (D-MO), the committee's ranking Democrat, asked Souder, "Are there any laws preventing rapists, arsonists, armed robbers or other violent felons from receiving aid?" Souder answered, "No, but I'll gladly cosponsor such a bill if you are offering it." Major Owens (D-NY) highlighted the fact that the provision only affects convicted drug offenders and therefore will have a discriminatory impact on blacks and other minorities. "African Americans will be disproportionately affected," he stated, "because even though African Americans make up 13% of the US population and an estimated 13% of drug users, we represent 55% of drug convictions." Scott introduced his amendment by noting there is no evidence the provision will decrease drug use and reason to believe it might increase drug use by marginalizing young people at difficult times in their lives. Scott also introduced a sign-on letter from the Coalition for HEA Reform (coordinated by DRCNet), in which a range of prominent national organizations call for passage of H.R. 1053 (see next article). When time came for the official vote, reality set in that the Scott amendment was not going to pass as the Republicans outnumber the Democrats on the committee. The amendment was defeated by a vote of 30-16. All the Republicans on the committee -- including Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), who opposes the drug war but also opposes federal education funding on libertarian grounds -- voted against the amendment. Most of the Democrats voted in favor of the Scott amendment; the five who opposed it were Matthew Martinez (CA), Tim Roemer (IN), Carolyn McCarthy (NY), Ron Kind (WI) and David Wu (OR). Rep. Scott told The Week Online, "Those who have been convicted of minor drug crimes should not be restricted from college loans when we don't restrict rapists and armed robbers." He continued, "The question is what are we trying to accomplish. It would seem that getting users into college would reduce drug use. We are fighting a philosophical battle as to whether we will reduce crime rationally or with slogans and rhetoric." Staffers for Scott and Frank were encouraged by the vigorous debate -- better than when the provision passed in '98 and are eager to press the issue as grassroots support for repealing the drug provision grows. OVERVIEW: Congressional activity can be highly complex, and the HEA issue is no exception. We list here the different bills and amendments involved to try to make it all clear: HIGHER EDUCATION ACT (HEA): The Higher Education Act was passed by Congress in 1965 and is the legislation authorizing and dealing with federal financial aid programs and related matters. HEA DRUG PROVISION: The brainchild of Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN), the HEA drug provision was passed in late 1998 and delays or denies all federal financial aid for any drug offense. H.R. 1053: Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) introduced H.R. 1053 last year to repeal the HEA drug provision. H.R. 1053 currently has 25 cosponsors, all of them Democrats. The bill will have to be reintroduced in January when the new Congress (107th session) begins. H.R. 4504: This bill, titled "Higher Education Technical Amendments of 2000," makes a variety of mostly minor changes to the Higher Education Act. It contains language submitted by Souder himself that 1) limits the applicability of the drug provision to students who were receiving financial aid at the time the offense for which they were convicted was committed; and 2) requires the Dept. of Education to treat students who don't answer the drug question on the FAFSA financial aid application as ineligible until they do. H.R. 4504 was passed yesterday by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Because it is very widely supported (despite having this one controversial provision), it is expected to become law under expedited procedures without further debate. Scott Amendment: Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) introduced an amendment in the Committee yesterday to strike the drug provision entirely, like H.R. 1053 would do. The Scott amendment failed by a vote of 31-16. It was opposed by all the Republicans and give Democrats. WHAT YOU CAN DO:
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