In Case You Missed It, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) joined NTD, NewsNation, Fox Business, and the Julie Mason Show this week to discuss improving outcomes for students and taxpayers. The Committee is holding the Biden administration accountable for its regulatory overreach in education, working to restore the value of a college degree, and investigating universities that don’t disclose money from or contracts with foreign adversaries.
On Mornings with Maria on Fox Business, Chair Foxx blasted the Biden administration for ignoring the Supreme Court’s ruling on student loans:
“We’ll also be working on … what the Biden administration is doing illegally and irresponsibly—I believe—in terms of the student debt. They are trying to do an end around the Supreme Court’s ruling.”
“This is not forgiving anything. The American taxpayers will be paying off this debt. What I worry about is how far this is going to go.”
“[T]he president keeps looking for ways to do free college through the back door … by getting rid of the debt for the people who signed up for it and putting it on the American taxpayers. This could amount to up to a trillion dollars.”
On the Julie Mason Show, Chair Foxx talked student loans and Committee actions to address the rising cost of tuition:
“The Biden administration is pushing forward with a radical free college agenda by finalizing a rule called the Income-Driven Repayment rule in an attempt to transfer billions in student loan debt to taxpayers.”
“The Biden administration is continuing to be lawless and to try and get around the Constitution and the laws of the land.”
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“We see a direct correlation between increasing money from taxpayers to students and institutions and the cost of education going up.”
“We have a bill called the Federal Assistance to Initiate Repayment, which is called the FAIR Act.”
“We will also have a reauthorization of a higher ed bill later this year, and that will force the colleges and universities to be accountable for how many students they graduate, whether the students get jobs, and whether they pay back their loans.”
“This is the real key to it. The colleges and universities have to be forced to have skin in the game.”
“Over the years, the public education system has failed to deliver for the American people. The unions have total control. What happened during COVID is parents found out how bad the education system is, how bad the unions are, and how they’re only self-serving.”
“I went through public education as a child. I got a good education, but that’s not happening anymore, and something has to be done to provide more accountability in our education system.”
“We are promoting school choice. We are promoting tax credits for people so that they can give money to allow students to choose the school of their choice. … That takes away the power from the unions and from the government.”
On NTD, Chair Foxx laid out the Committee’s actions to protect America’s academic institutions from malign foreign actors:
“We know that the Chinese Communist Party is doing everything it can to infiltrate academic institutions in the United States.”
“Berkeley is not reporting the millions of dollars that it’s getting from China for the [Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen] institute and we’re demanding answers on what’s going on. We’re very concerned that there could be infiltration from the Chinese Communist Party getting technology and secrets from us that they can then in turn use against the United States.”
“It’s important that there be transparency.”
“We have a law already in place. It’s section 117 of the Higher Education Act, which says universities must report to Congress any money that’s coming in, $250,000 or more. That is one way for us to have some monitor on what is happening.”
“Unfortunately, the Biden administration is doing nothing to force the universities to make these reports. So, it’s up to Congress to do our oversight responsibilities and get them to report.”