05.21.20

Durbin To Trump: Support Veterans By Signing Resolution Overturning DeVos Borrower Defense Rule

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) spoke on the Senate floor to urge President Donald Trump to sign a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval (H.J.Res. 76), to overturn the U.S. Department of Education’s 2019 Borrower Defense rule. The rewritten borrower defense rule would make it impossible for defrauded borrowers—including veterans—to get the relief they are owed and would lessen accountability for the schools that defraud borrowers. This week, the resolution was sent to the President for his signature. 

“Here's a chance for the President to stand up for the veterans on Memorial Day weekend,” Durbin said. “President Trump has the opportunity to be the one who rescues these defrauded veterans from a rule that the American Legion has entitled ‘fundamentally rigged against defrauded borrowers’ and give these Americans who served our country not just a pat on the back, but a chance to get back in the game in their lives.”

Video of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor are available here.

Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.

Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here for TV Stations.

More than 30 veterans organization have called on President Trump to sign the measure New polling from Third Way shows voters support defrauded student borrowers’ rights to relief and want schools who mislead students held accountable.

In September, Durbin introduced the Senate version of the CRA (S.J.Res. 56). The House of Representatives voted on a bipartisan basis in January to pass its version of the measure, H.J.Res. 76, introduced by U.S. Representative Susie Lee (D-NV-03). The Senate passed the resolution in March on a 53-42 bipartisan vote.

The resolutions were supported by a number of organizations, including veterans’ organizations such as The American Legion.

The DeVos borrower defense rule makes it almost impossible for borrowers who are defrauded by their school or harmed by their school’s closure to receive the relief to which they are entitled, and which Congress intended, under the Higher Education Act (HEA). According to an analysis by The Institute for College Access and Success, the DeVos borrower defense rule will cancel just three percent of all loans associated with misconduct.

CRA resolutions of disapproval allow Congress to overturn regulatory actions of federal agencies with a simple majority vote in both chambers. 

- 30 -