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Day 1 of Democrats’ Markup of Partisan College #unAffordability Act

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 30, 2019
Yesterday, the House Committee on Education and Labor began considering a partisan proposal that will cost taxpayers billions, limit educational freedom, and contribute to exploding college costs. Committee Republicans offered commonsense measures to improve the bill, but they were blocked by Democrats. Miss the first day of the markup? Here’s what you need to know:

Democrats defend public service loan forgiveness for lobbyists.

Republican Leader Virginia Foxx (R-NC): “This [amendment] isn’t going to stop people who are teachers from getting their loans forgiven. It is saying, if you’re a registered lobbyist,… it’s a very specific definition, then you’re not eligible for public service loan forgiveness. It’s really mind-boggling to me to hear our [Democrat] colleagues justify giving this to lobbyists.”

Democrats vote to make sure the wealthy get free college. 

Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA): “[Democrats are] taking federal dollars, giving them to students and parents who can already afford the cost of college, thus making less dollars available for those who really need it. …This is creating an expansive free college program that will be detrimental to our higher education system… So, my question is, why in this hundreds of billions of dollars tax proposal have Democrats’ opted not to include a basic taxpayer protection?”

Democrats deny First Amendment protections for religious institutions.

Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI): “We’re seeing colleges and universities of religious bent, including in my district – my alma maters’ as well - that based upon their faith they are being pushed aside. That’s a violation of civil liberties, that’s a violation of first amendment liberties, and I think we ought to as a body stand against that.”

Democrats’ debt cancellation for all scheme robs from the poor to pay for the rich. 

Rep. Fred Keller (R-PA): “[T]here’s many people that have gone to work, have gone to college, have paid back their loans, and I think frankly, it is not fair to those individuals to simply just forgive debt for people. …This amendment doesn’t talk about any of that. It simply says that we’re just going to forgive debt. [To] do that, we would have to take money from someone else…”

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