| HEA Renewal Emerges from House Committee |
After numerous extensions of the expired Higher Education Act (HEA), Congress seems poised to finally reauthorize its non-student loan provisions. On November 15, the House Education and Labor Committee, chaired by Rep. George Miller (D-CA) reported out its version of the bill, H.R. 4137. The Senate passed its version in July.
The bill reauthorizes the Javits Graduate Fellowship program, the Thurgood Marshall Legal Educational Opportunity program, and the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education.
The Committee also renewed the provisions relating to the Title VI programs in international education and foreign languages, which had been controversial in earlier versions of the reauthorization with the inclusion of an oversight monitoring board (see Update, Sept. 12, 2005). The new House bill does not include such a Board, despite the efforts of Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) to insert such a provision into the bill. The Committee defeated Hoekstra’s amendment on a voice vote. Hoekstra also offered and then withdrew an amendment that would have mirrored the Senate language requiring an application, complaint, and accountability procedures concerning the “teaching of diverse perspectives and wide range of views.” Chairman Miller suggested that Hoekstra’s view would continue to get consideration as the bill’s progress moved through the House floor and into a conference with the Senate.
The Committee adopted an amendment by Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) to create an Assistant Secretary for International and Foreign Language Education in the Department of Education. This was a recommendation of the National Academies’ report on Title VI (see Update, April 2, 2007).
The Committee also defeated an attempt by Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) to include an “Academic Bill of Rights” in the legislation.
The latest extension of HEA expires March 31, 2008. Congress hopes to complete the bill by then.
Note: MPSA is a governing member of COSSA, which monitors all federal agencies that provide support for social and behavioral research and advocates for a non-politicized research agenda. This article appeared in the November 19, 2007, issue of COSSA Washington UPDATE. For more information about COSSA, visit their website at http://www.cossa.org/.