Committee on Education and Labor : U.S. House of Representatives

Press Releases

Chairman Miller: Student Loan Task Force No Substitute for Immediate Action

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

 

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, issued the following statement today in response to the announcement from U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings about the creation of a task force on student loans: 

"The chief law enforcement officers in a growing number of states are already taking aggressive action to end the corrupt practices and other abuses that have been undermining the federal college loan programs and harming students, parents, and taxpayers. We should be grateful to the attorneys general for their efforts, especially because the federal Education Department has been missing in action. I hope that the Secretary's task force will provide some useful information to the administration and the Congress in the months ahead. But we already know that students, parents, and taxpayers are not getting the best deal possible out of these federal programs.

"Secretary Spellings is the federal official with the highest responsibility for these federal programs, and she must do more than just create this task force. Students, parents, and taxpayers want and deserve action now. Last week, I urged the Secretary to take several specific actions to immediately get a handle on the corrupt practices and other problems plaguing the student loan programs. She should take those steps immediately. We cannot rely upon state law enforcement officials to keep doing the work of the federal Education Department."

For more information on Miller's proposed actions, click here.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Kiley / Rachel Racusen
2181 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-226-0853