[Senate Hearing 106-252] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] S. Hrg. 106-252 H.R. 974--THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE ACCESS ACT AND S. 856--THE EXPANDED OPTIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION FOR DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA STUDENTS ACT OF 1999 ======================================================================= HEARING before the OVERSIGHT OF GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT, RESTRUCTURING AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SUBCOMMITTEE of the COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION __________ JUNE 24, 1999 __________ Printed for the use of the Committee on Governmental AffairsU.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 59-579 cc WASHINGTON : 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, Washington, DC 20402 COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS FRED THOMPSON, Tennessee, Chairman WILLIAM V. ROTH, Jr., Delaware JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut TED STEVENS, Alaska CARL LEVIN, Michigan SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi MAX CLELAND, Georgia ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania JOHN EDWARDS, North Carolina JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire Hannah S. Sistare, Staff Director and Counsel Joyce A. Rechtschaffen, Minority Staff Director and Counsel Darla D. Cassell, Administrive Clerk ------ SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT OF GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT, RESTRUCTURING, AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio, Chairman WILLIAM V. ROTH, Jr., Delaware RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey Kristine I. Simmons, Staff Director Marianne Clifford Upton, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel Julie L. Vincent, Chief Clerk C O N T E N T S ------ Opening statements: Page Senator Voinovich............................................ 1 Senator Durbin............................................... 3 WITNESSES Thursday, June 24, 1999 Hon. Thomas M. Davis, a Representative in Congress from the State of Virginia, and Chairman, Subcommittee on the District of Columbia, House Committee on Government Reform................. 4 Hon. Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Delegate in Congress from the District of Columbia, accompanied by Chartese Day, Student, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia..................... 5 Hon. James M. Jeffords, a U.S. Senator from the State of Vermont, and Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions....................................................... 8 Hon. Anthony A. Williams, Mayor, District of Columbia............ 16 Maureen A. McLaughlin, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Planning and Innovation, Office of Postsecondary Education, U.S. Department of Education................................... 18 Patricia McGuire, Chairwoman, Government Relations Committee, Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area. 21 Dr. Julius F. Nimmons, Jr., President, University of the District of Columbia.................................................... 23 Lucio A. Noto, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Mobil Corporation.............................................. 25 Alphabetical List of Witnesses Davis, Hon. Thomas M.: Testimony.................................................... 4 Prepared statement........................................... 30 Jeffords, Hon. James M.: Testimony.................................................... 8 Prepared statement........................................... 36 McGuire, Patricia: Testimony.................................................... 21 Prepared statement with attachments.......................... 50 McLaughlin, Maureen A.: Testimony.................................................... 18 Prepared statement........................................... 42 Nimmons, Jr., Dr. Julius F.: Testimony.................................................... 23 Prepared statement........................................... 75 Norton, Hon. Eleanor Holmes: Testimony.................................................... 5 Noto, Lucio A.: Testimony.................................................... 25 Prepared statement........................................... 87 Williams, Hon. Anthony A.: Testimony.................................................... 16 Prepared statement........................................... 39 APPENDIX Prepared statement of Paul Strauss, U.S. Senator, District of Columbia (Shadow).............................................. 29 H.R. 974--THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE ACCESS ACT AND S. 856--THE EXPANDED OPTIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION FOR DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA STUDENTS ACT OF 1999 ---------- THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 1999 U.S. Senate, Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring, and the District of Columbia, Subcommittee of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, Washington, DC. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 11:39 a.m., in room SD-342, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. George V. Voinovich, Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding. Present: Senators Voinovich and Durbin. OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR VOINOVICH Senator Voinovich. Good morning. The hearing will come to order. First, I want to apologize to everyone for the delay of the hearing this morning. One of the most frustrating things about being a U.S. Senator as contrasted to being the governor of the State of Ohio is that when I was Governor, I controlled my agenda and time; in the Senate, I am at the mercy of other people. We welcome you to this hearing for the purpose of hearing two very worthy proposals--S. 856, the Expanded Options in Higher Education for District of Columbia Students Act, and H.R. 974, the District of Columbia College Access Act. Senator Jeffords will be coming over after he is finished with his meeting, but we have with us this morning Representatives Davis and Norton, who are sponsors of H.R. 974, and we are very pleased to have you here. I want to congratulate you on the hard work and success in moving this important concept forward. I know that we are all working toward the same goal--providing students in the District with greater postsecondary opportunities. I believe the tuition assistance concept that we will discuss here this morning is a welcome step toward providing the District's young people with a range of opportunities available to every other college-bound student in the Nation. By itself, this is an exciting program, but when we consider the Pell Grants, the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, the Federal Stafford Loans, the Federal PLUS Loans, and the Federal Perkins Loans, which are already available to college-bound students, and then include the private sector's new initiative, the D.C. College Access Program, it presents a fantastic opportunity for District students. We can say to a ninth-grader in the city: You can go to college. To many students have thought that a college education was beyond their reach. But this new program, combined with the private sector scholarship and existing Federal aid, shows the District of Columbia's young people that college is in their futures if they are willing to work hard. H.R. 974 and S. 856 are similar, and we are going to explore the different approaches of the two bills. I would like to applaud the sponsors of both bills for including tuition assistance grants to students who choose to attend private universities in the area. There are many great institutions in the metropolitan Washington area. I strongly support giving District students the opportunity to attend some of the finest schools in the Nation and am further delighted that students benefit from these schools while at the same time remaining at home. Finally, I would like to applaud the private sector for stepping up to the plate for education. More than a dozen regional corporate citizens, including The Washington Post and Mobil Corporation, are successfully racing toward a $20 million goal--think of that--$20 million to help the District's public high school students prepare for and enter and graduate from college. From my experiences as Mayor of Cleveland and Governor of Ohio, I am confident that the public-private partnership is one of the most important components of revitalizing any city. The quality education available in a city will dictate in large part the flow of residents into or out of a city. Cleveland is the only city in the country that has been named an All-America City three times within a 5-year period. But when I was Mayor, I said to the citizens of our town that we truly are not an All-America City until we have an all- America school system. I think that is the message to all of our urban areas throughout this country. That is where the real challenge is today, in my opinion, in education. The D.C. College Access Program is the perfect private sector complement to the tuition assistance program we are discussing today. The D.C. College Access Program will provide professional counsel to all D.C. public high school students and last-dollar financial awards to young people with the greatest financial need. Often, money is important, but it is having that expert at the school who knows all the programs and can counsel that youngster and his or her parents about how to take advantage of the programs that are there. This program is largely based on a program with which I am very familiar, the Cleveland Scholarship Program, which has helped nearly 90,000 high school students go on to college in Cleveland. Again, I want to thank all the witnesses for being here this morning, and before I introduce them, I would like to recognize the Subcommittee's distinguished Ranking Member, Senator Durbin, for an opening statement. Senator Durbin. OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR DURBIN Senator Durbin. Thank you very much, Senator Voinovich. I am glad that we are having this hearing. Let me say at the outset that I want to salute Mayor Williams. I believe that he has done an excellent job working with the various control boards and others that have an influence on the future of the District of Columbia. You are definitely moving in the right direction. I have seen dramatic progress in a short period of time, and I have every confidence that will continue. Let me also add that the subject of this hearing, this tuition bill, is one which I whole-heartedly endorse as a part of the President's budget and the legislative creation of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton as well as Congressman Davis and Senator Jeffords, who will join us soon. The young people in the District of Columbia are at a unique disadvantage in that they do not have opportunities that we have in Illinois and many other States to attend public institutions of higher learning and qualify for lower tuition rates as in-State residents. I am anxious to find a way to give them that opportunity. I think that what we should focus on here, as well as the concept of tuition for D.C. residents, is how it will be paid for. By luck of the draw, I end up being the minority spokesman not only on this Subcommittee which authorizes the District of Columbia, but also on the Appropriations Committee for the District, so I have in both capacities more connection with the District than some Members of the Senate. This afternoon, we will have a hearing on the D.C. appropriations bill, and there will be a proposal made that $17 million be taken out of the Labor-HHS appropriation and given to the District of Columbia to pay for this tuition program. That is where I take exception. To take money out of the Labor- HHS appropriation bill at this moment in time is wrong for the following reasons. We are $8 billion short of meeting last year's spending goals under the budget resolution passed by the Republican Majority. It means that we face at this moment cuts at the National Institutes of Health, and in health and education programs across America, to the tune of $8 billion. I am hoping that we can make up that difference, but to take $17 million out of that appropriation at this moment and give it to the District of Columbia for tuition programs makes no sense when the D.C. City Council has announced that they have $59 million they cannot figure out what to do with--not to improve the safety of streets, not to improve the schools in the District of Columbia, not to deal with the real life issues that people in the neighborhoods care about. So they want to give the $59 million away in tax cuts. So here we are, subsidizing the District of Columbia for a program where they already tell us they have $59 million, and declare a dividend and give it back to the taxpayers in the District of Columbia. They have the money to pay for this tuition program. We do not need to take it out of Labor-HHS. Thank you. Senator Voinovich. Thank you, Senator Durbin. I would now like to call on two of our panelists and start with Representative Tom Davis. TESTIMONY OF HON. THOMAS M. DAVIS,\1\ A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF VIRGINIA, AND CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA OF THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM Mr. Davis. Thank you, Chairman Voinovich, Senator Durbin, and Members of the Subcommittee, for this opportunity to testify before you today, and thank you, Chairman Voinovich, for scheduling this hearing. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \1\ The prepared statement of Mr. Davis appears in the Appendix on page 30. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I would like to ask unanimous consent that my entire statement be put in the record, and I will just address three or four issues straight up. First, I think this is a good regional bill. It not only helps the District of Columbia. We are dealing with a region right now which is growing, where there is a shortage of high- tech workers and educational opportunities for people in the District of Columbia. We want them to be part of the growing economy, and right now, education is out of the reach of many of these D.C. residents. This is an opportunity to allow affordable college opportunity for kids who in many cases do not have that opportunity now. As more and more people go to college and choose college as an option, it will become more of the thing to do. That is how you slowly change the culture in the inner cities, and I think this is a giant step toward doing that by making college affordable to them. They are still competing in the out-of- state schools as out-of-staters, so the admission criteria are a little tougher, although I understand there is some entertainment of perhaps reserving a few slots for District of Columbia students out of the out-of-state pool in a couple of neighboring States, and I think that will help. We support clarifying language in terms of Congressional Budget Office scoring that defines residency more tightly than we did on the House side. Had we had the benefit of the Congressional Budget Office study, I think we would have made that change ourselves, so we would welcome any language you add to do that. One question is do you do this in 50 States, or do you do this in 2 States. I think reasonable people can differ on this, and I think that if we go to conference on this, we would maintain some flexibility. Our goal here, though, was to provide as many affordable opportunities as we could for District of Columbia students, and 50 States obviously provide more opportunity than you will get in just 2 States. The rationale for 2 States is that Virginia and Maryland are next door, and these are the States from which the District originally came from, although there are universities in West Virginia and Delaware that are closer than many schools in Virginia. On income caps, if I live in Virginia, and my kid gets into the University of Virginia or George Mason or William and Mary, there is not an income cap on my kids being able to pay in- State tuition through a university system; neither is there in Maryland. Why should there be for the District of Columbia if what we are trying to do is equalize educational opportunities for children in the District of Columbia as it is around the rest of the country? We are, as I noted in my statement, basically the State Government for the City of Washington, and there are certain responsibilities that go with that. Although the city does not get a vote on the floor of the House or the Senate, they do pay Federal income taxes, and it is a unique jurisdiction by nature of the Constitution. I think it sometimes calls for some unique solutions to some of the problems that confront it, and I think this legislation offers that. Finally, I think this should be administered by the District Government. This will be a priority. We want to try to entrust the city with more local decisionmaking. We have a new mayor, and I think it would be a slap in the face to put this in the Department of Education, where it could get buried along with a lot of other programs. The city needs this program; I think they want this program; they will benefit from it. And if the money does not cover all the opportunities, they can sort out the appropriate prioritization of who should go and should not, and at that point, the income caps. These are decisions the city should make, not here at the Federal Government level. Thank you. Senator Voinovich. Thank you, Congressman. We really appreciate the fact that you highlighted the issues that we are going to be discussing here today. Now I would like to call on Representative Norton, please. TESTIMONY OF HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, A DELEGATE IN CONGRESS FROM THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ACCOMPANIED BY CHARTESE DAY, STUDENT, GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY, FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA Ms. Norton. Mr. Chairman, and Senator Durbin, I appreciate that you have called such an early hearing and for inviting Tom Davis and me to testify about a bill that we have worked very closely on in a most bipartisan form of collaboration. We have also worked very closely with the President and with the First Lady and with the Department of Education, all of whom have given this bill priority. I do want to correct the record. Mr. Durbin is under the impression that there would be money removed from the Labor-HHS appropriation and given to the District of Columbia. Never is money given to the District of Columbia. This money is in the Labor-HHS appropriation because it was added by President Clinton specifically to deal with this program. In other words, this is money that but for this program would never have been in the Labor-HHS budget. We have worked very closely with the administration. The administration regarded this idea as a very important one, so that when Tom Davis and I began to work on the bill, the administration worked with us and worked with us with respect to the money, and the only reason it is in Labor-HHS is because it is an education bill, and that is why it is proper to transfer it, just to get it out at this point if that can be done. I want to say how grateful I am that Senator Jeffords has taken a special interest in this bill. Senator Jeffords has shown nothing less than dedication to education issues in the District of Columbia, both when he chaired the Appropriations subcommittee and since he has never stopped or dropped that interest. I want to say that there is not a dime's worth of difference--perhaps I should say a million dollars' worth of difference--between his bill and ours. In any case, Tom and I are certain we can work those differences out, because his bill and ours virtually amount to a consensus bill. I would like to focus on two questions, briefly, which I think might clarify other questions. One is the purpose of the bill, and the other is the administration of the bill. Actually, the bill has three purposes. What we are trying to do here is create a virtual State university system. We have a State university; we just do not have the kind of system that the residents of the 50 States have, and thus, the Framers in deciding that there should be a city that was not a part of a State for the convenience of the National Government left us without the mechanism for a State education system. It is the National Government which of course, has the capital at its convenience, which should, it seems to me, contribute to making up for this gap, which has had such an effect in denying equal access to higher education for the residents and for the young people of the District. The second purpose of the bill is to assist our own State university, the University of the District of Columbia. We do that by a one-time-only contribution to allow it to be a funded Historically Black College and University. Then, of course, once having become formally an HBCU college, it becomes automatically eligible for those funds. I cannot overemphasize how important it was that UDC be a part of this bill if we care about who is going to go to college in the District of Columbia. Many more will qualify to go to our open admissions university than will go out of State. Two-thirds of UDC students work, most of them could not go out of State, and we are very pleased that they have been included for a modest amount in this bill. We never intended and could never have intended this bill to deal with the many problems of UDC, but it is most appropriate that they be a part of the bill. A third purpose of the bill, of course, is to encourage residents to remain in this city. You can imagine what kind of incentive it is when a parent finds children in the 10th or 11th grade and realizes what is going to happen in a few years and how much that is going to cost the parents. All you have to do is walk across the line to Virginia, which has 39 State college and universities, or to Maryland which has 35. We think that is one reason we lost three times as many people in the 1990's as we lost in the 1980's, with the problems of the city, and then, with these additional disabilities, people just left. This will help us keep people. Let we move to administration. With locally-driven purposes, we think local administration makes the best sense. Indeed, we think that the few differences between the Jeffords bill and ours are best settled and most rationally settled through local administration rather than through mandates from Congress when we really have absolutely no experience of the kind that would guide us in writing hard mandates into the bill. Income and geographical elements come to mind particularly. I do not think we can reliably or responsibly draw either kind of line, but I think that Mayor Williams and his appointees could. I think we could get anomalies and unintended results, and I think we could even get unused funds in the early years, because we have no idea who will apply, we have no idea who will be incentivized to apply, we have no idea who will transfer. The unknowns multiply. As an example of unintended results, I cite section 5(c)(2) from the Jeffords bill which makes perfectly rational sense. In the Private University section, he says that in order to limit the amount of money, for rational purpose, they should be from adjacent counties. There are only two adjacent counties--Prince George's and Montgomery. We are not sure what happens to Virginia here, since you have to cross the river, and none of them is adjacent. Yet a number of the private institutions that will qualify are in Virginia. What is most disturbing, however, is that language like that would keep any Historically Black College or University from qualifying to receive students based on this money. For Hampton, where we have sent 150 students this year--none of those students could get this money because it is not in an adjacent county. Those are the kinds of things that could easily be worked out, though, below. We think that those issues are best calibrated at home rather than on the basis of guesstimates. We think that even income limits could fluctuate. We could have a year, particularly in the early years with the start-up required, where the income limits might be higher. Income should always drive this from the bottom up, with the lowest income getting the money first, and if there is money left over, to others, of course, based on income. But I do not think we would want to say here, with no experience, what that should be. What we have in the Jeffords bill and in our bill is a consensus about all of the major elements. I want to say to you, Mr. Chairman, that parents and students are absolutely besieging my office, so much so that I have already spoken with Mayor Williams and asked him to do early action in case we do get the bill out so that we might even get some of the money flowing as early as the winter semester. Senator Voinovich. Representative Norton, could you wind up, please? Ms. Norton. With your indulgence, Mr. Chairman, I wanted to ask if the student who accompanies me here could speak for a minute or two about the bill. Senator Voinovich. Without objection. I want to point out that Senator Durbin will have to leave, so I would like to move along and give him a chance to question the panel. And I would love to have you respond to his comments. Please go ahead. Ms. Day. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee. My name is Chartese Day, and I am a D.C. resident and a student. I am here today to ask for your full support of H.R. 974, the District of Columbia College Access Act. I am a sophomore at George Mason University, a State school located in Fairfax, Virginia. I chose to attend this fine institution of learning because it is the only school in the country with an integrative and interdisciplinary studies degree program, New Century College. Although I have a deep love for my educational pursuits, I am disheartened about the unequal status of the District of Columbia which places our students at a grave disadvantage. Every year, thousands of students in the 50 States and the District of Columbia set out for college. But there is a divider between these two groups of students that should be eliminated. Students within the 50 States have the opportunity to attend in-State colleges and universities at in-State rates which are considerably cheaper than out-of-State rates. However, District of Columbia students do not have this privilege. Instead, we must pay astronomically high rates at private colleges within our city boundaries and very high rates at State colleges. Last year, my family paid $18,000 in out-of-State tuition fees compared to $8,000 for in-State tuition--and my mother is a single parent as are many District of Columbia parents. I was lucky that my mother worked hard for the means to send me to college last year. Many other students are not as fortunate as I and instead must sacrifice their dreams of higher education. Last year, I had to pay $10,000 more in tuition simply because the District of Columbia is not a State and does not have a State university system. Today I am here to ask that you accept and support H.R. 974, The District of Columbia College Access Act, because it allows District of Columbia students to take advantage of in- State tuition rates at out-of-State colleges and universities. In addition, I would like to ask that you also accept and support the grandfather clause within the bill as currently written, which would extend these privileges to District of Columbia students like me, already enrolled in colleges and universities. I did not ask to be born and raised in the District of Columbia. My mother gave birth to me here. However, I am a proud Washingtonian and have a strong love for this extraordinary city which is the Nation's Capital. In the past, I have been denied Statehood, I have been denied a vote in Congress. I ask today that I no longer be denied a right to receive an affordable higher education simply because I do not live in a State. Thank you for your cooperation and consideration. [Applause.] Senator Voinovich. Thank you very much. That was a very eloquent statement, and we are glad to have it. It is nice to have someone here who can talk about the experience that they have had and not having the opportunity that other students around the country do have. Thank you. Senator Voinovich. Senator Jeffords. TESTIMONY OF HON. JAMES M. JEFFORDS,\1\ A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF VERMONT, AND CHAIRMAN, SENATE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS Senator Jeffords. It is with some trepidation that I follow the previous speaker, because I am sure I cannot top her dissertation. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \1\ The prepared statement of Senator Jeffords appears in the Appendix on page 36. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am very pleased to be here. I think it is very exciting that we are considering doing what should be done for the young people of the District of Columbia. I am very positive that we will be able, as mentioned by Ms. Norton, to reach a compromise here, but I do have some matters that I think need attention. I would therefore ask that my entire statement be included in the record and will go through a shorter version. Under the able leadership of the House, which has endorsed this bill without a dissenting vote, I certainly looked at it with care. The legislation that I have introduced and the measure approved by the House share the same goal, that is, the goal to provide the citizens of the District of Columbia with a greater range of options in pursuing postsecondary education by having the Federal Government offer support which, in other areas of the country, is provided by State Governments. I am delighted at the level of interest and support that the D.C. tuition concept has received. Although the House and Senate bills are aimed toward the same objective, they differ in the design and administration of the program and the scope of the benefits provided. I would like to lay out the reasoning behind the approach I took, particularly regarding the scope of the program. Briefly, my legislation has three components. One, it picks up the difference in cost between in-State and out-of-State tuition for D.C. residents who attend public postsecondary institutions in Maryland and Virginia. Two, it provides additional support to the one public postsecondary education institution in the District of Columbia, the University of the District of Columbia. And three, it offers support to those students choosing to attend private institutions in the District and neighboring counties, providing grants up to $2,000 to help defray tuition costs. I have nothing against reaching for the sky, but I will say that this proposal does not cover all the ground that the version approved by the House does. Basically, I felt that, in launching a brand-new program, it was best to develop a fairly simple foundation and try it out. I have also found it far easier to expand an effort in the future than it is to roll it back. Moreover, I believe it is important to assure the program is reasonable in cost. With the tight discretionary spending caps enacted in 1997, there is not any ``free'' money. Spending in one area will mean fewer dollars are available in another. I therefore tried to design a program that would fall into the range of the $17 million provided in the President's budget request for the D.C. tuition initiative. Based on preliminary estimates by the Congressional Budget Office, I believe that my legislation will achieve this goal if the residency provisions are tightened to avoid providing benefits to unintended recipients. If there is a desire to make larger amounts available in order to finance a more generous program, then I believe those funds need to come from a source other than the Federal discretionary accounts. I have long favored a regional education approach to the D.C. metropolitan area. During the last Congress, I introduced legislation calling for the establishment of a regional education and workforce training system in the metropolitan area. The financing mechanisms was a commuter tax, and needless to say, that idea did not get very far. Nevertheless, I do not think such an approach should be ruled out as a means to offer additional support for students through a D.C. tuition assistance program. It has the additional advantage of ensuring that the funds are used to benefit the metropolitan area rather than simply being sent to Richmond or Annapolis as the present funds are. A tax rate as low as one-half of one percent would provide about $100 million annually--an amount that would be more than adequate to extend the in-State tuition to all 50 States or to provide larger grants to students attending private institutions, or to support UDC. Beyond that, it would also help fund the project that is now being called PREP, which is a regional educational system which could also improve education for grades K through 12. The House-passed bill provides that the mayor will administer the program, while my legislation gives that responsibility to the Secretary of Education. I chose that route because the Department of Education has a great deal of experience with student financial aid and has well-established relationships with every institution of higher education in the country. The mayor, on the other hand, would have to start from ground zero to develop the expertise and relationships necessary to ensure the smooth operation of the program. Particularly during the start-up phase of the program, I believe it is necessary to have experienced hands in charge. In putting together this program, mechanisms will have to be developed to deal with issues such as determining student eligibility, monitoring enrollment status, and tracking in- state and out-of-state tuition rates. There are a number of pressing education issues facing the District of Columbia at this time, including the need to better manage special education programs. I do not want to be in the position of placing a new administrative responsibility on the District of Columbia at this time, particularly when a viable alternative is available. At the same time, I understand the reasoning behind housing this program in the mayor's office. In fact, my legislation leaves this open as a possibility. In seeking a middle ground, my suggestion would be that the Secretary of Education be in charge of the program during the critical initial years when the basic operational system is designed and put into place. Then, after 3 or 4 years, the program could be transferred to the mayor upon his request. If he wanted to leave it there, he could leave it there. At the end of the day, the precise language of any particular provision of my bill is not the issue. What is important is that we enact legislation which offers to District of Columbia students the best deal we can afford through a program which operates effectively and efficiently. An investment in education is one of the most important investments that we as a society and we as individuals can make. There are boundless opportunities in the D.C. area for individuals with education and training beyond high school. D.C. residents should not be left behind in obtaining the capacity to take advantage of these opportunities. I hope the Subcommittee will find aspects of my proposal useful in this regard, and I look forward to continuing to work with the Members in any way I can to assist in this very important project. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Senator Voinovich. Thank you, Senator Jeffords. I really think it is wonderful that, with all the other responsibilities that you have, you are interested in doing something for the District of Columbia and have been thinking about this for quite some time. Because Senator Durbin has some other things to do, I will invite him to ask his questions first. Senator Durbin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me explain that I am chair of the Illinois Delegation, which meets once a month in a bipartisan fashion to discuss our State issues, and so that is where I am headed, and I am sorry I cannot stay for the rest of this hearing, but I will review the testimony. I would like to make one observation and then ask perhaps two very quick questions. First, Congressman Norton, when you speak of the President's budget and the budget resolution before Congress, we are dealing with a theory and a fact. The theory of the President's budget was that we would have an additional $10.4 billion to spend in Labor-HHS in the next fiscal year. The fact in the House budget resolution is that we are cut $8 billion. That is the difference between theory and fact. The $17 million the President called for in this program was part of a budget which had $10 billion more to spend than we face now in Congress with the budget resolution, and that is the reason why I think that distinction should be made. I would like to go to one particular issue here that seems to be an issue of disagreement. Beyond the question of whether or not a resident of the District of Columbia can attend colleges outside of Maryland and Virginia under this program, speak to the means-testing issue, if I could ask you to, and since both Senator Jeffords and Congresswoman Norton are familiar with 1-minute speeches in the House, if you could each take 1 minute to tell me why you think, Senator Jeffords, there should be a means test, and you believe, Congresswoman Norton, that there should not be a means test, I would appreciate it. Senator Jeffords. Well, it is also combined with who administers the programs. I think you have to keep that in mind as well. But in my judgment, the ability for people to move around and the ability to be able to take advantage of the situation makes it essential that we start out in a sort of conservative manner rather than opening it totally up to everyone. So I would hope that we would at least start off with a means test just to see what the response is, rather than just going ahead with it from the start. Senator Voinovich. Congresswoman Norton. Ms. Norton. I do not think there is a difference between Senator Jeffords and myself. I am not opposed to a means test. My position is simply that we should look to see who applies and then apply any means test that may be necessary at that point. We are in a start-up program particularly because we are in a start-up program. To put a means test on it now without knowing anything about the incomes of the people who may apply or whether we will have leftover money because we put to low a means test on it does not seem to me to make a lot of sense. What I think we should do is instruct the mayor to do what he would do anyway, which is that if there is not enough money to go around--and there may be in the first year--I emphasize that--there may be in the first year--then of course, this money ought to be distributed on a means basis. If we put a figure in the bill, however, then I would like to know what we do if in fact we find that there are some students who would qualify, who might be over that income, and the money is there, but we deny it to them because Congress has put a means test on without the data available to indicate whether that is reasonable under all the circumstances. So I do not disagree with means test. I just do not think we are in a position to put it on, and we should let it be done at the local level. Senator Durbin. If I could ask one follow-up, Senator Jeffords, that seems like a valuable suggestion, that if we put a means test--and we have established the figure of $17 million, for example--and applying the means test, we find we do not have sufficient applicants to meet the $17 million maximum, could we put language in here which would allow it to expand, then, to raise the income level to meet the $17 million? Senator Jeffords. You certainly could do that, and I have no disagreement with that. What I do not want to do is have an open-ended one and then have to send out notices to a few thousand young people saying, sorry, we do not have enough money to let you participate. I think it is better to start out in a cautious manner until we know what the demand is. Moving around in this area is so flexible, you can just walk across the line, and you have an entirely different educational option. I do not know how much that will happen, but that is going to be a problem, regardless of the means- testing. So I would be very cautious starting out. Senator Durbin. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Senator Voinovich. Thank you, Senator Durbin. Getting at some of the issues in terms of the differences in the legislation, Senator Jeffords, you would like to limit the States' involvement in this to Maryland and Virginia; is that correct? Senator Jeffords. That is our recommendation, again, to start off in a rather cautious way, rather than expanding those options, until we know what the demand is going to be. Sure, I would like D.C. students to come to Vermont--I have no problem with that--but I think we should start off making sure that we take care of the local institutions that have the willingness to provide for young people. Again, if the resources are there, that is another issue. I would point out that I feel very strongly that since the city is now prospering--even thinking about tax cuts--that we should be mindful that the funding for this program comes from discretionary funds that are available to all the young people in the United States. If we cut into those funds, it could be a problem. That is why I suggest alternative ways of funding to expand the horizons dramatically not only for college-bound students but also for K through 12 assistance in the metropolitan area. Senator Voinovich. One of the observations that I have made, and it is just anecdotal, is that I think there have been some complaints by the citizens of Maryland and Virginia that some of their kids have difficulty getting into their State schools. If you add the District of Columbia youngsters to that pool, it might make it more difficult for them to get in. In Ohio, for example, we have out-of-State students, and some of our own students are sometimes not as good academically as they should be, and they are asked to stay out for a year or two or go to some other school for a while. And I hear from the parents who say we should keep all these out-of-Staters out in order to give our own kids an opportunity. I think the concept of expanding it beyond the two States would give the youngsters an option to reach out across the country and have, I think, perhaps more of an opportunity to get in than they might have if they were restricted just to those two States. Would you like to respond to that? Senator Jeffords. Again, I would only say that it is a matter of who is paying for it. If you have $17 million allocated out of the White House budget, that is fine, or if the resources can come from D.C. general funds or whatever else with respect to their other priorities, I think you can adjust those boundaries to match your resources. Senator Voinovich. Representative Norton. Ms. Norton. If I could respond to that as well, there was a front-page story in The Washington Post a couple of months ago that said that Maryland and Virginia are turning down their own residents for their State colleges in record numbers, apparently because the cost of college education today is sending so many people to apply to State colleges. I do not disagree in principle with Maryland and Virginia, but I think the point you raise, Senator, is an important one to bear in mind, that we could get another one of these unintended consequences with Maryland and Virginia tightening up on their own residents. Does that mean they are going to be open to the District of Columbia when we bring a whole new pool that would not have applied but for this bill? Congressman Davis wanted me to tell you he had a vote, and that is why he had to leave. Delaware and Virginia have parts of the State that are closer than many of the State universities in Maryland and Virginia. Again, we might well get where the Senator wants us to get, but could we get there not with statutory language but on the basis of local administration? Senator Voinovich. I would like you to comment also on the difference of opinion about how the program should be administered. Why is it that you feel you would rather have it in the mayor's office than have it operated by the Department of Education, and do you have any suggestions as to how this might be compromised? Ms. Norton. I do, because I think that here, there is really very little difference. I think one bill says to be administered by the mayor in consultation with the Department of Education, and the other says to be administered by the Department of Education in consultation with the mayor. I am sensitive to what the Senator said about not wanting to load another bureaucracy onto the District of Columbia. I do believe that putting the matter in the mayor's office on a home rule basis is the most efficient way to do it, and I think that the consultation with the Department of Education would indeed result in the sharing of their expertise of the kind that the Senator wants to see happen. He says they are the people who have some experience--that is absolutely right--and we have a very long history now, especially during this administration, of dealing directly on just this kind of consultive basis with the Department of Education. They are over in the District all the time, sharing with us in all manner of ways and helping to set up and reform our own operations. So I really do not think there is a lot of difference, because the consultation is going to occur no matter which is chosen on a home rule basis, on a local autonomy basis. I would hope it would be placed in the District of Columbia with people from the Department of Education consulting and helping us to set up a program. Senator Voinovich. Senator Jeffords. Senator Jeffords. Just a brief comment. I would point out that the District of Columbia education system is finally coming along. It had one of the worst systems in the country, and it is now moving up rapidly. They had huge problems to deal with in the K through 12 area. My suggestion to have the program administered to the Department of Education at least temporarily, and then, later on, give the option to the mayor. If he says, ``I would like to take it over,'' he could take it over. That approach would relieve a very burdened educational system right now from having to take on the very difficult job of trying to administer all the new higher education aspects. I feel very strongly that it should start out with the Department of Education and then let the mayor, if he desires to take it over, have that option. Senator Voinovich. In other words, your thought is that the program would be run by the U.S. Department of Education? Senator Jeffords. Yes. Senator Voinovich. And you mentioned that the school district is overburdened and has real challenges. It was my understanding that this program would be operated out of the mayor's office and not out of the---- Senator Jeffords. No. It would be operated out of the Department of Education. It could be either way. I do not think we have any strong feelings about what building it is in. Senator Voinovich. My thought--maybe I misunderstood--is that the District of Columbia Department of Education would not be running this, but that it would be in the mayor's office, and the thought was that he would be assisted by, perhaps, people from the U.S. Department of Education. The point I am making is that we are not going to be putting an extra burden on the back of the local school situation. Senator Jeffords. I understand, and I think that is wise. I would guess you ought to talk to the Department of Education or the Secretary of Education to get from them their perspective on what would be the best way of how to handle that responsibility if they have it. Senator Voinovich. Do either of you wish to make any further comments before we move to the next panel? Ms. Norton. No. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for this hearing. Senator Voinovich. I have one last question. I have received some letters of support and E-mails for this legislation, but we have received several letters in opposition to the concept for fear of its impact on UDC. Would you like to comment on that? Ms. Norton. Yes. Initially, there was some concern about the impact on UDC, and we cannot say what the impact will be on UDC except to say that there are two different pools of students. I indicated that two-thirds of the students at UDC work, and most of them could not leave town to go away to school if they wanted to. Many of them have family obligations here. In any case, we do not want to take the position in this city that in order to build up one part of our State university system, we want to deny educational opportunities to youngsters. I am pleased that President Nimmons, the president of UDC, while a fierce advocate for his own institution, took the position that UDC should be for this bill, that UDC could compete for students. In any case, this bill is to serve the students of the District of Columbia. We have gotten UDC into this bill in a way that it would never have gotten into the bill but for this bill. In other words, UDC has gotten an opportunity it never would have had if this bill to allow students to go out-of- State had not been put in. So if anything, UDC is ahead of the game precisely because students in the District of Columbia may get the opportunity to go out-of-State as well as have the choice of going to UDC. Senator Jeffords. UDC can be a tremendous asset to this community, but it may have to change its direction in some way as far as how it handles the matter of curricula and so on. But I think it will be improved and will thrive under the arrangement that has been set up rather than in any way be disadvantaged by it. Senator Voinovich. Thank you very much, both of you. Our next panel includes Mayor Anthony Williams and Maureen McLaughlin. Mayor Williams, it is nice to see you again. I had the opportunity of spending many hours with the mayor when he visited with me in Cleveland, and Mayor Williams, I am hopeful that you have some good ideas on how the private sector can be of some help to you here in the District. Mayor Williams. Thank you, Senator. Senator Voinovich. We also have with us Maureen McLaughlin, who is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Planning, and Innovation with the Office of Postsecondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education. We are glad to you have with us today. We have been talking about who should run the program and so on, and we will be interested in hearing from you. I would now like to call on Mayor Williams. TESTIMONY OF HON. ANTHONY A. WILLIAMS,\1\ MAYOR, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Mayor Williams. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \1\ The prepared statement of Mayor Williams appears in the Appendix on page 39. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I would also like to thank Senator Durbin for having been here and for you spending his time and attention on this important aspect of the District of Columbia's recovery. I have said since my inaugural that our job here in the District of Columbia is to show that democracy can work in the District and on the road to full recovery and the realization of democracy to build community, to build the public/private sector partnerships that we saw, to invest in education as a foundation for what we want to do. In that respect, I agree with what our Congresswoman has said in that our students in the District are at a tremendous disadvantage when it comes to access to higher education. I believe the College Access Act will help amend this discrepancy and put the District's students and their parents on an equal footing with the residents of the 50 States. As you have mentioned, the new D.C. College Access Program, a public/private partnership between area corporations and public schools will now be offering up to $2,000 in financial aid to qualified District students. As you know, similar efforts in Cleveland--where I visited last week--have seen 93 percent of involved students continue on to college or to vocational school. But the D.C. CAP will not meet all of our needs. The District of Columbia College Access Act can make higher education feasible for all those in need of cutting university costs by 50 percent or more. As we know, in recent years, we have lost tens of thousands of residents to surrounding suburbs in Virginia and Maryland. With the rising costs of higher education, the District stands to lose more and more families who relocate to other States to take advantage of a State higher education system. Today in the District of Columbia, only one in three high school freshmen goes on to attend postsecondary education. But we know that a highly educated workforce is essential if we are to lay the economic foundation for the recovery that I talked about. One provision of the proposed bill that is of utmost importance is the absence, I believe, of a means test. For residents of the 50 States, in-State tuition rates are not pegged to income. For example, in the State of Washington, if Bill Gates want to send his children to the University of Washington, he would pay in-State tuition. I believe there should not be a means test here in the District of Columbia. I think that in the case of establishing a means test to begin with, you are going to have some disappointed families. If we were to have no means test, gauge the demand, process the requests and send denials on the basis of limited means, we would still have some disappointed folks. If we are going to have some disappointed folks, it seems to me we should at least have a program and a process where we exhaust all the resources available, because I think it would be tragic in the first year of the program to have sent away some folks without assistance and yet at the same time, ironically, have some money leftover. Also, while I think there are two different ways to do this, I believe that putting this in the mayor's office is the way to go--not that we do not have other things to do, but I do believe that economic development--and I think this is an economic development tool and investment in children--it certainly is about investment in children--are cornerstones of our administration's efforts. Arranging the process and the operations in this way would not overburden the school system, because as you correctly pointed out, Mr. Chairman, the schools are not the responsibility of the mayor. In fact, the staff of my office have already met with Deputy Assistant Secretary McLaughlin to discuss the Department's experience in administering the scholarship program, and we appreciate all the Department has done for us and look forward to working with them to make this College Access Program work. Further, again, this is going to be pegged to means available. Ideally, I would like to see this apply to all 50 States. As Congresswoman Norton mentioned, and some other testimony is evidence, there is some notion that confining this to the two adjoining States puts pressure on in-State residents in other States. You would relieve that pressure by allowing our students to attend anywhere in the country. Furthermore, I think it once again, in the spirit of this act and legislation, situates our students similar to students in any other State. I also believe that we must recognize in this bill the needs of our private institutions in the City that have done a good job to support our students. The assistance in some of the measures before you help to address that concern. They have done a lot to provide scholarship assistance, in-kind and other assistance for our graduates here in the District of Columbia. There is precedent in Virginia and other States for providing assistance to private universities, and I believe we should do this here. I also believe--and I have done this in my own budget on a local basis--that we have to support the University of the District of Columbia as a key element of an overall State education system. I believe that we are doing this by providing initial capital funding, I believe we are doing this by providing for the first time an investment in endowment. We are also going to launch this summer the introduction of my nominations for a board of trustees of national caliber. All of these are efforts to support the university as it works to focus its mission as a flagship academic institution while also providing--regrettably, but we need to do this--remediation for many of our high school students. In addition, UDC is a continuing education arm for employees who are looking for upward mobility and the kind of work-to-work upward mobility that every city has to provide. That concludes my remarks, Mr. Chairman, I would be happy to answer any questions you may have. Senator Voinovich. Thank you very much, Mayor Williams. I think you really hit on some of the issues that are of controversy. Thank you. Ms. McLaughlin. TESTIMONY OF MAUREEN A. MCLAUGHLIN,\1\ DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR POLICY, PLANNING, AND INNOVATION, OFFICE OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Ms. McLaughlin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to have the opportunity to appear before you today to share the administration's views on H.R. 974 and S. 856. I will summarize my testimony and submit the longer version for the record. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \1\ The prepared statement of Ms. McLaughlin appears in the Appendix on page 42. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The administration strongly supports providing all District of Columbia residents access to a broad array of choices in postsecondary education similar to those available to residents of the 50 States. This would enable all District residents to attend affordable colleges and universities with a range of missions and strengths, and to tailor their educational experiences to meet their individual goals and needs. To recognize the importance of this initiative, the administration included $17 million in its fiscal year 2000 budget. Since that time, we have worked hard to ensure that this idea becomes a reality. We appreciate the bipartisan support that has surrounded this legislation from the start, and thank you for the opportunity to work with you on the structure of the program. The administration is particularly pleased with three aspects of the bills before Congress. First, each bill addresses a critical shortage of public postsecondary education options in the District of Columbia by allowing residents to attend out-of-state public institutions at in-State tuition rates. This cornerstone provision would enable D.C. residents to enjoy the same diversity of affordable public postsecondary education that has been available to residents of all 50 States for many years. Second, the administration is pleased that both bills would provide grants to District of Columbia residents who choose to attend private colleges in or around the city. Many strong colleges and universities are located right here in the District of Columbia and surrounding areas. Yet in many cases, District of Columbia residents have not been able to attend these institutions because of limited resources. Forty-eight of the 50 States recognize the importance of providing opportunities for their students to attend private colleges in their States and provide subsidies for this purpose. Third, the administration continues its strong support for the University of the District of Columbia and is pleased that Congress has appropriated Federal financial support for the university. We recently worked with Congress to ensure that funds would be available to UDC without reducing funding for other Historically Black Colleges and Universities. We are now working with UDC to enable it to receive these funds in the near future. Our goal is to provide greater access to a broad array of institutions of higher education to District of Columbia residents and to design the program in a manner that ensures congressional support over the years to come. We need to ensure that the tuition benefits that are provided are consistent, reliable and predictable. To do this, the program must be designed in a way that will generate support for sufficient funding each year. In that vein, the Congress has some concerns about the high cost of the House-passed bill and offers several suggestions for developing a program that meets the needs of District residents while ensuring sustainability over time. The Department of Education estimates that H.R. 974 will cost $37 million in fiscal year 2000 and that S. 856 would cost $17 million in fiscal year 2000. We believe that the cost of the program as structured in S. 856 is more sustainable over time. A significant portion of the cost of the House-passed bill--almost $11 million--relates to the provision that would allow students to pay in-State tuition amounts at any public institution across the country rather than limiting the scope to public institutions in Maryland and Virginia as supported by the administration and included in S. 856. This aspect of H.R. 974 would provide a wider range of choices to District residents than are available to residents of any of the 50 States. Limiting tuition subsidies to residents attending public institutions in Maryland and Virginia would be more consistent with the options available to residents of any State. There are 30 public colleges and universities in Maryland and Virginia, five of which have open admission policies. Furthermore, the administration of the program will be more complex if the administering entity must work with institutions of higher education from all 50 States rather than institutions in just two States. Details regarding the costs of that particular provision are provided in my written testimony. The administration also feels strongly that limited Federal resources must be targeted first to those students with greater need for assistance. Under H.R. 974, if funding is insufficient to cover the demand for tuition assistance, award amounts would be decreased for all eligible students. As drafted, the mayor would have no opportunity to utilize any other mechanism for targeting funds. It is critical to the future of this program that the wealthiest D.C. residents do not obtain tuition assistance from a limited amount of funds at the expense of lower- and middle- income District of Columbia residents. Accordingly, we believe that some kind of priority funding mechanism, such as the means test contained in S. 856, must be included in the legislation ultimately enacted by Congress. As I mentioned previously, we are very supportive of providing grants to students who choose to attend private colleges and universities. We believe, however, that H.R. 974 structures these grants in a way that is more generous than similar grants provided to residents of States. In most States, the grants are not available to students attending private institutions outside the States, the grants are not as large as $3,000 per year, and they are typically provided on the basis of need or merit. S. 856 provides benefits that are more similar to other States. We also believe, as do many others, that the residency requirements for students receiving benefits under either bill should be tightened to ensure that these benefits go to people with long-term commitments to the District of Columbia and not to students who come to the District of Columbia merely for the purpose of attending college. Finally, because administering this program will be a complicated task, we would like to see H.R. 974 modified to provide maximum flexibility for the mayor and the Secretary of Education to determine how to best administer this program. Furthermore, we believe there must be adequate Federal authority added to the final legislation to monitor the program to ensure accountability of Federal funds. This is especially true because the program is likely to be supported exclusively by Federal funds. In closing, let me again express how pleased we are about the level of support and commitment that has been generated by H.R. 974 and S. 856. The bills complement the efforts of the private sector, including the D.C. College Access Program. Working together, we can strengthen the Nation's Capital by realizing the potential of all D.C. high school students. I would be pleased to answer any questions that you may have. Senator Voinovich. Thank you very much. Mayor, would you like to comment about some of the things that Ms. McLaughlin talked about--differences of opinion with the bill and the Department's approach to it? Mayor Williams. In regard to this notion that if District students are given access in the 50 States at the rates that we are talking about to our private institutions, it would situate District students better than students in other States, I would just argue that while the spirit of this legislation is to situate us like any other State, we are not yet a State, and we are among the most taxed people on the Planet, and we are the Nation's Capital. All of those are special and unique circumstances which I think, while they do not require, certainly they contemplate a different kind of special, custom solution because we are the Nation's Capital. Also, Senator Jeffords talked about using this as a launching pad and an initial model. I think everything we do in the District of Columbia should be about investing in academic development, and investing in children is a key part of that. I think that we in the District, as we invest in the University of the District of Columbia, should think about, by leveraging this Federal funding, local funding in the future to expand this program. That is certainly something that I would look at. If it could be shown, for example, that for $3,000 a year, you have a family living in the District, paying over a period of time far more in taxes, that is a good return on investment. Senator Voinovich. Thank you both very much. Our third and final panel includes Lucio Noto, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mobil Corporation; Dr. Julius Nimmons, President of the University of the District of Columbia; and Ms. Patricia McGuire, Chairwoman of the Government Relations Committee of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area. I am glad to have all of you here. Mr. Noto, I had an opportunity to meet with you prior to the hearing, and again thank you and the other private sector folks for stepping forward and participating in a very ambitious scholarship program to aid District of Columbia students. I am not sure about my time. I am supposed to preside at 1 o'clock, and I will hear back in about 5 minutes. So what I would like to do is to move quickly through your testimony, and if you could summarize, I would be grateful, and I apologize to you for the long wait that you have had in order to present your testimony before the Subcommittee. I would like to call first on Ms. McGuire. TESTIMONY OF PATRICIA MCGUIRE,\1\ CHAIRWOMAN, GOVERNMENT RELATIONS COMMITTEE, CONSORTIUM OF UNIVERSITIES OF THE WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA Ms. McGuire. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to be here with President Julius Nimmons from UDC on behalf of the Consortium of Universities which includes 12 major colleges and universities in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, including UDC and my own institution, Trinity College. I also acknowledge the presence here today of Dr. Charlene Drew Jarvis, President of Southeastern University and Member of the Council of the District of Columbia, and the many students from all of our institutions who are here in the room with us. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \1\ The prepared statement of Ms. McGuire with attachments appears in the Appendix on page 50. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have prepared testimony which I would ask be entered into the record, and I will summarize a few key points in recognition of your time. First, let me point out Chart A in the written testimony shows that the Consortium enrolls more than 7,000 D.C. residents as full-time undergraduate students, including 4,300 D.C. students in the three public universities and 2,700 D.C. residents in the nine private institutions, which is 39 percent of all District of Columbia residents in our institutions, which is twice the national average for private college attendance. The Consortium supports Congressman Davis' bill, but we do want to be sure that this initiative also supports students who choose to attend college close to home, thus augmenting and not eroding the District of Columbia's talent pool and future workforce, which is the goal of any State's higher education program. We have welcomed in particular that part of this legislation that strengthens UDC and that supports D.C. students who choose private colleges here. We support the Davis bill and needs-testing and the geographic situation. I would like to offer a particular comment about the Tuition Assistance Grant Program for students who are D.C. residents attending private colleges. We ask the Senate to adopt the $3,000 TAG provision of the Davis legislation which, in our testimony, we illustrate mirrors existing programs in Maryland and Virginia and elsewhere in the Nation. A smaller TAG would unfairly discriminate against D.C. students who stay at home to attend private institutions. While we do not favor a needs test, the simple fact exists that with one of the highest poverty rates in the Nation, the District of Columbia already has a surfeit of students with great economic need, and many District of Columbia students cannot afford the luxury of travel to out-of-State institutions. Contrary to popular myths, many if not most of the D.C. students who choose private colleges in the District of Columbia are not wealthy elites. Private universities in D.C. already provide millions of dollars in grants to D.C. residents, and even this extensive aid is not enough. The Davis TAG grant would supplement, not supplant, the millions we are already investing in higher education of D.C. students. To illustrate, let me call your attention to our own experience at Trinity College, one of the District's historic colleges, a 100-year-old Catholic college with a primary mission to women, now serving a student body that is more than 60 percent African American and Latino. Forty percent of our 1,500 students are D.C. residents; 28 percent of last year's freshman class were graduates of D.C. public schools. Full-time D.C. students at my institution receive average institutional grants of $6,900. Trinity grants to D.C. students exceed $1 million, which is 6 percent of Trinity's tiny budget of $16.5 million. Last year, Trinity's institutional grant support for D.C. freshmen exceeded the total combined amount of Pell Grants and Federal loans taken by those same students. Even with this considerable institutional aid, many of our D.C. students still face great financial stress. Some of our 18-year-old freshmen from D.C. work 30 to 40 hours a week--too many hours for young students who should be concentrating on their studies. Some of them have to drop out for financial reasons. The difference of $3,000 through an in-State grant program would help to ensure academic persistence and academic success for students who are most at risk--low-income African American and Hispanic students who are graduates of the District of Columbia public schools who are striving to change their economic circumstances through earning a degree at the local college they choose for educational reasons. We disagree with the CBO report that grossly inflated the likely cost of the TAG program. Based on our current enrollment of D.C. residents, we project an outer maximum of 3,000 participants in the TAG program. Chart C in my written testimony presents the bottom line. Based on regional high school graduation projections, we estimate the peak cost of the TAG portion of this program would be about $7.3 million in the year 2003, for about 2,400 participants. Regarding residency, we believe the loophole discovered by the CBO could easily be closed, either with a longer residency requirement or to require the student to be a D.C. resident at the time of enrollment or to require parental residency. We urge this Subcommittee to amend H.R. 974 to clarify and strengthen the legislation. We urge you to enact the bill with the full understanding of the opportunities that exist right there in the Nation's Capital, which has been and continues to be one of the best college towns anywhere in the world. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Senator Voinovich. Thank you very much for your testimony. Dr. Nimmons, it is a pleasure to welcome you here today. I have been a fan of our Historically Black Colleges, and am not sure if you are familiar with my work in Ohio at Central State, but it looked like we were going to be losing one of our Historically Black Colleges, and we went to work, and it is now back on its feet, and I think it has a bright future. We are lucky to have--and you may know him--Dr. John Garland, who is our president, whom we brought from Washington. I commend you for your leadership and the contribution that your institution is making to the District, and I would like to hear your testimony. TESTIMONY OF DR. JULIUS F. NIMMONS, JR.,\1\ PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Dr. Nimmons. Thank you, Senator. I am familiar with that situation, and Mr. Garland, the new president, did come from UDC. At one point, he was with us. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \1\ The prepared statement of Dr. Nimmons appears in the Appendix on page 75. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I thank you for this opportunity, Mr. Chairman. Let me say first that I sit here at a great disadvantage. Among all the stakeholders in this noteworthy initiative, the University of the District of Columbia is the most needy and the most vulnerable of all, and I am concerned that in speaking out for our great institution, I stand the risk of appearing as a dissenter, when in fact I am deeply grateful that you are willing to put significant resources into supporting higher education for the citizens of the District of Columbia and that we are able to come together on this issue. I am sincerely appreciative of this opportunity to voice the University's position on the tuition assistance bill and of the efforts of the 106th Congress to elevate higher education to the highest of priorities for the citizens of the District of Columbia. Both the House and the Senate would like to put forth strong legislation that equalizes for District residents higher educational opportunities enjoyed by all other U.S. citizens. By design, the legislation would provide significant benefits for middle class, above-average students, and this is good for the city because it is one step in maintaining a solid middle class presence. Yet for the thousands of low-income students who continue to suffer poor educational attaintment, whose parents can barely pay for daily living essentials such as housing and food, and who must rely on UDC to assist them in their quest for social participation and self-sufficiency, a major investment in the University is warranted. I am certain that we do not want to end up with what amounts to separate but unequal educational opportunity for the majority of the citizens of the Nation's Capital. Congresswoman Norton has worked very diligently on our behalf to secure current year enhancement funding for the University in the amount of $1.5 million, and she has advocated aggressively for our inclusion in the Department of Education's Title III program. We are truly grateful for this support. I want to emphasize that the University is the State's system of higher education for the city. Upon first hearing of the proposed legislation, I have to tell you that the University community was terribly upset, for it appeared that another blow had been dealt to the institution. You see, we take great pride in what we have been able to accomplish. We have been hit hard at every turn in our plans to reconfigure the University into a modern, cutting-edge institution having to go so far as to shut down, albeit briefly, in order to regroup and move forward. Under the proposed legislation, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the University will require at least $40 million to raise UDC's quality to the level of the premier public universities across the country. And they are right--we need more than $40 million to elevate the University to 21st Century standards. For the past 30 years, Title III Higher Education Act provisions allowed Historically Black Colleges and Universities over $1 billion in enhancement funding. The University has never received any of this funding--$60 million that we should have had, but which was denied us because of concerns that our HBCU sister institutions would individually suffer some reduction in their annual payments if UDC were added to the eligible pool. As we became an HBCU, Title III was rewritten to include a restriction prohibiting the University from participating based on the erroneous notion that the University received an annual direct appropriation from Congress as does Howard University at $200 million per year. Nowhere in the language of the Federal payment authorization or subsequent appropriations bills accompanying this authorization does UDC appear. A very serious injustice was done to us. Although surrounded by more than 11 higher education institutions, residents of the District of Columbia are not enrolled in these institutions in significant numbers. Roughly 100 District of Columbia residents are enrolled at the undergraduate level in each of these nationally-focused institutions with the exception of Howard University, Trinity College, and Southeastern University, with roughly 1,400 undergraduate District residents, respectively. Strayer College also enrolls a significant number of D.C.'s adult population. Thus, UDC enrolls from 4 to 57 times the number of District residents present in the other institutions; 81 percent of our undergraduate students are District residents. UDC currently offers a program in three of the five fastest-growing jobs requiring an associate's degree, five of the seven fastest in the bachelor's level; 12 of the fastest in the baccalaureate level; and four of the five fastest-growing jobs requiring a master's degree. The institution is responding to regional demand for trained talent in high-demand areas while placing otherwise neglected minorities on the path to full participation. And our students remain in the area, sustaining the middle class base we all covet. In summary, it is time for the University of the District of Columbia to receive the kind of financial investment that allows it to prosper and thrive. Your commitment in funding to the University is a proactive step in the right direction. Give us a chance to grow and develop without interruptions, without seriously damaging budget reductions. Give us all the modern technologies, equipment and infrastructure we need to get the job done. Thank you, sir. Senator Voinovich. Thank you. Our next panelist is Lucio Noto, who is Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Mobil. Mr. Noto, again, thank you for being here today and thank you for your leadership. TESTIMONY OF LUCIO A. NOTO,\1\ CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, MOBIL CORPORATION Mr. Noto. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for this opportunity. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \1\ The prepared statement of Mr. Noto appears in the Appendix on page 87. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am here representing 16 Washington, D.C. area private companies and foundations who have created an organization known as DC-CAP, the College Access Program, to help some of the District of Columbia's public high school students achieve the kind of future that we are confident they can. The reason I am here talking in favor of a tuition assistance program is because those of us who created this program see tuition assistance and CAP as forming three legs of a stool: Counseling, choice, and financial assistance. Choice is an essential element of that stool, and that is why we are active in trying to support the bill that you are currently considering. There are many people we want to thank for putting us together and getting us to do what we did. I especially want to mention Donald Graham of The Washington Post, who could not be here this morning--he is at a board meeting--but without his push and his leadership, the private sector could not have done its piece. What has the private sector done? We have raised about $16 million on our way to an initial goal of $20 million. What are we going to do with that money? We are going to try to fund three things. First, we are going to pay for a counselor at every D.C. public high school. Why do we want to do that? Kids need to understand that college is a realistic objective for them, both in terms of financial calculations and also in terms of personal aspirations. And second, kids and parents need a lot of help navigating through a very complex system of aid, admission, and what-have-you. We are going to do that. Third, we are going to give last-dollar financial help to kids who do get into college, up to $2,000 a year for 5 years to a student who qualifies--again, out of the D.C. public school system. You might ask why are we doing this. We are not doing this for altruistic reasons. We are doing this because we think it makes good business sense. We need qualified kids to come out of the D.C. public school system, period. We need employment. One hundred fifty thousand jobs go begging each week in The Washington Post technical job want ad section. No. 1, corporations, believe it or not, feel that they do have an obligation to give back to the communities where we operate and where we make a living. And No. 3, for a company like Mobil, at least, if we do not have a vibrant and successful metropolitan area close to our headquarters location, I could not attract and retain and keep the kind of talent that I want. So we are here because we think it makes good sense. I cannot make any comment on all the discussion that I have heard this morning about means testing, 50 States versus 2, do not hurt this school, do this, do that. I have to tell you, if my company ran that way, we would be bankrupt. This is a good idea. It needs to be pushed, and it needs to be brought to fruition soon, before the July recess. We want to get these counselors whom we are paying for into the schools for next year. We want to get financial assistance that will come out of the CAP program into the kids' hands when they graduate at the end of the semester that ends in June 2000. We need the tuition assistance program to give these kids the choice that they should legitimately have. Put them on par with most of the other communities in this country. Now, I am preaching to the converted when I talk to you, Mr. Chairman, because I know that you were involved with two model programs in Cleveland and Columbus that, frankly, we in the private sector have looked at as examples of what we could do here, and I congratulate you for that, and I know that I do not have to sell you on that. At the end of the day, we need your help to get this thing moving. I cannot believe that we cannot put four bright people in a room representing both sides of the argument on means testing, on 50 States versus 2 States, and on some of the other complexities which I am afraid we are manufacturing, and get the thing settled and get it settled quickly. I will tell you frankly, in my company, if they could not do that, I would fire them. So please, I urge you, let us not get mixed up in what school is going to get what, and how we have to help UDC's budget. Those may be very legitimate issues, but that is not the purpose here. We are here to help the kids, and we need your assistance. I thank you. Senator Voinovich. If I were still Governor, we would get it done that quickly. [Laughter.] But I am not, and I do believe that we have some good people who really care about this program, and I can assure you and everyone else here that I am going to do everything in my power to get everyone into a room and see if we cannot get this worked out ASAP and get it done, certainly, for sure, before we get out of here in August, so that it is done, because it is going to take time to put things in place and make sure all of the t's are crossed and i's dotted so that when we launch the program, we do not end up with problems. That is really important, that when we do launch it, we have anticipated as many of the problems as we can, so it does not hit some land mines somewhere along the way and become discredited, and we go back to accusations and so forth. Mr. Noto. Mr. Chairman, the reason I think it is very important--as I told you, we have raised about $16 million, and we are on our way to $20 million. We have 16 groups already involved in that effort, and you will see their names listed in my written testimony. I am very grateful to them. You will see the usual suspects. You will see those people who have done a lot for the District of Columbia over time. And we have so much new business flourishing in this area that if we can keep the momentum going on this, I think we can get a lot more money from a lot of companies who have not joined that list yet who make a very good living in this area. So I would urge you to remember that we are bringing private money, and we can bring some incremental private money if the momentum goes right. Senator Voinovich. I will help you go after them. Mr. Noto. Thank you. Senator Voinovich. Let me say one other thing to you. I think it is important that the business community contact Senator Durbin, because he has some real questions about the budgetary viability of this proposal. One thing that I have come to recognize in my political career is a thing called leveraging. One reason why I am interested in this program, Mr. Noto, is because of the fact that you and other people in the private sector are stepping forward. And quite frankly, I look at the Federal Government's involvement in this program as doing our part to continue to encourage you to do your part. I think that if we were not to go forward with this legislation, and we flubbed this opportunity to move forward, it would be very discouraging to you and other members of the private sector. So I think it is very important that you get that across to Senator Durbin and others who may be having a problem with this, because where can you spend $17 million of Federal money--and we know that as the years go on, it may be more--and at the same time generate over $20 million in the private sector? I think that is a terrific deal; I would love to see the Federal Government involved in more programs like that. Mr. Noto. Hear, hear. Senator Voinovich. So we are going to move on it as quickly as we can. I want to thank all of you for being here today. We are going to launch something here that is very important not only to the District of Columbia but to this country. Thank you. The meeting is adjourned. [Whereupon, at 1:03 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.] A P P E N D I X ---------- PREPARED STATEMENT OF PAUL STRAUSS, U.S. SENATOR, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (SHADOW) Chairman Voinovich, Senator Durbin, and Members of the Senate Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring and the District of Columbia, I am Paul Strauss, the Shadow U.S. Senator elected by the voters of the District of Columbia. For years, District residents have been denied basic rights that citizens in the rest of the Nation have enjoyed. In every State in the Nation, there is a university system supported by that State's Government. In the District of Columbia, there is not a comparable system in place. We have a State University--but no State University system. ``House Resolution 974--The District of Columbia College Access Act'' is a crucial step towards establishing equality for District residents by affording them a myriad of educational opportunities. A Senate bill, ``Senate 856--Expanded Options in Higher Education for District of Columbia Students Act of 1999,'' takes steps in the same direction but with some differences. I urge the Senate to adopt the version submitted by the House. The House and Senate versions (H.R. 974 and S. 856 respectively), focus on the same basic objectives. However, several components warrant special attention. First, the program should focus on national access, and not regional access. S. 856 limits access to public institutions in Maryland and Virginia. H.R. 974 allows access to public institutions in each of 50 States. In order to best serve the college-bound residents of the District, we must provide options beyond Maryland and Virginia. Additionally, the Senate bill limitation will likely create a strain on the Maryland and Virginia public university systems that will disadvantage residents of those States. Second, the program should promote participation by all colleges and universities in the District. A critical factor in creating equal educational opportunities for District residents is to advocate for full participation of those institutions of higher learning within the District borders. We are fortunate to have some of the finest universities in the Nation right here in our own backyard. The residents of the District are entitled to the education available from these institutions while not being excluded solely because of financial situations. Third, the program should be administered by the local government, and not by the Federal Government. The mayor's office should have discretion to determine the procedure and criteria used in administering all funds within this bill. The Department of Education, while perhaps capable of providing guidelines, does not have the resources necessary to distribute the funds to District residents in the most effective manner. Any formal involvement by an entity of the Federal Government would only serve to hinder the efficiency of the administration of the program. Our local government currently in place is fully equipped to administer the program to its own citizens. Finally, the program should not require initial means testing or income caps. There is no data to predict what the response level from District residents will be to this program. It would be a grave mistake to establish an income cap as a marker of eligibility for the program. This cap could create a situation where funds are available for distribution, but where the only otherwise eligible candidates are refused funding from the program simply because of the income bracket of their family. This means testing policy will likely prove to be highly inefficient. The Nation's Capital should be a place where all residents of the United States would be proud to call home. We should encourage residents to remain in the District, and encourage any American living outside the District to select their Capital as their home. Congress denies us Statehood, but D.C. residents need not be denied the benefits of a State educational system. Congress denies us equal representation, they should not deny us a quality education. 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