George Miller

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews).

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, the subject of the amendment is discrimination against women.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Madam Speaker, today I am introducing a bill to stop the Department of Labor from proceeding with a new proposed rule that would seriously undermine the ability of the Federal Government to protect workers' health. The Department's proposal is the product of a flawed, politicized process. On July 7, 2008, the Department of Labor submitted a proposed regulation entitled ``Requirements for DOL Agencies' Assessment of Occupational Health Risks'' to the Office of Management and Budget, OMB, for E.O. 12866 regulatory review. This proposal is being made in contravention of a number of rules and processes. No notice of this rule was published in the semi-annual Regulatory Agenda as required under Executive Order 12866. Furthermore, unlike all other DOL regulatory submissions to OMB, the information provided on the OMB Web site did not originally contain the rule's abstract, legal authority, timetable, agency contact, and other information required by the Executive Order. Although the intent is to finalize this rule before the end of the Bush administration, this submission violated the White House's own directive prohibiting submission of new regulations to OMB after June 1 except in ``extraordinary circumstances.'' What are the ``extraordinary circumstances'' that are being used to rush through this last minute, secret regulation on a subject as arcane and technical as ``risk assessment?'' Assessing risk is the backbone of any OSHA or MSHA standard that addresses hazards posed by chemicals or other health hazards. Changing the assumptions underlying risk assessment to those favored by industry can seriously erode the effectiveness of all future OSHA or MSHA standards far beyond the life of this administration. The Department claims that this proposal was not published in the most recent regulatory agenda because when the last regulatory agenda was issued, they had not yet decided whether they would issue a proposal. But the Washington Post has revealed that they have been working on this regulation as far back as September 2007, when they paid $349,000 to outside consultants to conduct a study of the risk- assessment process. The entire proposal appears to have been designed and originated by political appointees at the Department of Labor, bypassing the real experts at OSHA and MSHA. According to the Washington Post, when a draft was finally shown to health scientists in MSHA and OSHA, they objected to both the legality and substance of the proposal and suggested that the proposal not be issued. The political appointees at the Department went ahead anyway. In the last 7\1/2\ years, the Department has only managed to issue one health standard--and that was done under court order. It has failed to meet its own deadlines on regulations to protect workers against the health effects of silica, against the health effects of beryllium, or against the serious health effects of diacetyl, which causes popcorn lung. Yet, suddenly, the Department of Labor has decided that further weakening the ability of OSHA or MSHA to issue any future health standards has become its highest priority. No one is arguing that OSHA or MSHA do not need guidance for risk assessment. But the Department of Labor already has such guidance. This new regulation, however, which clearly has the potential to weaken worker protections, will be codified, binding all future administrations. Other agencies that have such guidance, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, note that ``because the science of risk assessment continues to develop rapidly . . . risk assessments will be modified to use different approaches if appropriate.'' The new Labor regulation, on the other hand, would add an entire additional layer of review to the already overstressed regulatory process by requiring notice and comments for all risk-related studies before a proposal can be issued. This would be in addition to numerous economic reviews, small business reviews, OMB reviews, public comments and public hearings that are already required before a standard is issued. This Congress will not stand for further weakening of worker protections, particularly when it's done secretly--as this administration heads out of town. This bill would forbid the Department of Labor from issuing, administering or enforcing any rule, regulation, or requirement derived from the proposal submitted to the Office of Management and Budget. The Department's proposal is the product of a flawed, politicized process that has failed to properly consider the views of experts or the consequences for workplace health. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days for Members to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on the conference report to accompany H.R. 4137.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1389, I call up the conference report on the bill (H.R. 4137) to amend and extend the Higher Education Act of 1965, and for other purposes.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the conference report on H.R. 4137, which strengthens and reauthorizes the Higher Education Act. In America, a college degree has always been the ticket to middle class. More and more, our future depends upon our ability to produce well-educated and skilled workers to take the jobs of the 21st century. Over the past 2 years, this Congress has built a strong record of working in a bipartisan way to make college more affordable and accessible. Last year we enacted the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, which provides for the single largest increase in Federal student aid since the GI Bill. But we also know that there is still work to do to ensure that the doors of college are truly open to all qualified students who want to attend. The last time the Higher Education Act was authorized was 1998. In those 10 years that have passed, our world and our country have changed, and so have the needs of college-going students. Today's students face a number of challenges on their path to college, from skyrocketing college tuition prices, to needlessly complicated student aid and application processes, to the predatory tactics of student lenders. This conference report will remove these obstacles and reshape our higher education programs in the best interests of students and families. To address soaring costs, this legislation will increase the transparency and the accountability of the tuition pricing system, shining a bright light on the prices set by colleges and universities. It requires the Department of Education to create new, user friendly Web sites with helpful information on college prices and the factors that are driving these tuition increases. Colleges with the largest increases in tuition will be required to report their reasons for raising those prices. This bill will also ensure that States hold up their end of the bargain in funding higher education by establishing for the first time a maintenance-of-effort requirement on the States that receive Federal funds through the student loan program. This means while we are putting in money from the top from the Federal Government, the States will hopefully stop taking that money out of the bottom and leaving families and students who are borrowing loans to go to college no better off than they were before these actions. This is a dramatic change from the patterns of the past. To better protect students while navigating the often murky world of college loans, this bill restores trust and accountability to the student loan programs by cleaning up the conflicts of interest between the lenders and the colleges. All Federal and private student lenders will be required to provide full and fair disclosure about the terms and conditions of the loans they offer. And to help borrowers' reliance on more expensive private loans, we will help ensure that students and families first exhaust the less expensive Federal loan and aid options before turning to private loans. It will also help students manage their textbook costs. It provides students and faculties with complete pricing information before each semester so they can shop around for the most affordable deals. For the first time, textbook publishers will be required to offer less expensive versions of each expensive bundled textbook they sell. This bicameral compromise also simplifies the Federal student aid application process and provides families with early estimates of their expected financial aid packages to help them better plan for their expenses a year ahead of the time. In addition, H.R. 4137 will make Pell Grant scholarships available year-round for the first time. It strengthens the TRIO and the GEAR UP college readiness and support programs that are critical to helping so many students stay in school and graduate. It expands funding for graduate programs at historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and predominantly Black institutions. It increases college aid and support programs for veterans and military families. It ensures equal college opportunities and fair learning environments for students with disabilities. It makes colleges safer for the entire campus community. It encourages colleges and universities to adopt energy efficient and sustainable practices on their campuses. I am confident that this legislation will improve the higher education system and make it more affordable, fairer and easier to navigate for students and families. Almost all of these students are borrowing money. Time is money, and time is effort, and we need to make this process more streamlined, fairer to families and fairer to students. None of this, I want to say, would be possible without the leadership and the passion and the determination of Senator Ted Kennedy, and I would like to thank him for that. Also, Senator Enzi and Senator Mikulski. Senator Mikulski stepped in when Senator Kennedy became ill and did a magnificent job of shepherding this bill and this conference report through the Senate. I would also like to thank all the members of our committee for their hard work. And I would especially like to recognize Congressmen Buck McKeon, Ruben Hinojosa, and Ric Keller, and their staffs including Amy Raaf Jones, Moira Lenehan, and Ricardo Martinez. And, finally, I would like to thank my staff for their tireless efforts on this reauthorization, including Mark Zuckerman, Alex Nock, Denise Forte, Stephanie Moore, Gaby Gomez, Julie Radocchia, Jeff Appel, Sharon Lewis, Margaret Young, Fred Jones, and Arman Rezaee. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hinojosa), the Subcommittee on Higher Education Chair, who has done a magnificent job in shepherding this bill to the floor. (Mr. HINOJOSA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) for a unanimous consent request. (Mr. SHAYS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from California (Mrs. Davis).

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Grijalva) and I want to thank him for his work on the cohort default rate and on the year-round Pell Grant.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New Hampshire (Ms. Shea-Porter) and thank her for all her work on the TRIO program. It is so important to get kids to college and to stay in college.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hare), and I want to thank him for his work on dislocated workers and on the rural communities.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I would just like to thank the gentlewoman for all of her work on behalf of military families, making sure that they did not pay an additional price for being in the military and lose their eligibility, for her work on that amendment.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Courtney) who has been so helpful on this legislation, both in teacher education and in community service and the work study programs.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), who has been so helpful on this legislation with respect to Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the TRIO program. (Mr. DAVIS of Illinois asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. If the gentleman would yield, I would be happy to engage in a colloquy with the gentleman from Illinois about section 725.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I concur completely with the gentleman's understanding. The conferees intend that this reauthorization is to strengthen the ability of both the Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Predominantly Black Institutions to develop masters professionals. For this reason, the conferees intend that any appropriated funds be divided proportionately between the sections 723 and 724.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) who, again, was so helpful in the business partnership agreements.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) who's been a champion on campus safety during this legislation.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Tierney) who did groundbreaking work and made such an effort to make sure the States meet the responsibility for financing public higher education.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt) and thank him for all of his work on the foreign language partnerships and the creation of the deputy assistant secretary.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days for Members to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials on H.R. 1338.