Madam Speaker,

Today I rise to celebrate and honor the service of Army Master Sergeant Jeffrey Mittman for receiving the Osborne A. “Oz” Day AbilityOne Awareness Award.  The prestigious “Oz” Award is presented by the Committee for Purchase from People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled to an employee at a federal agency who demonstrates exceptional service promoting the AbilityOne Program throughout the federal, state and local communities.

Now, the National Account Manager for the National Industries for the Blind’s Midwest Region, Master Sergeant Mittman supports a mission of employment for others with disabilities by promoting the AbilityOne Program through the federal procurement process in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District. This patriot’s story is a remarkable one, for his story does not start nor finish here with this award.

Master Sergeant Mittman’s indefatigable commitment to serve his fellow Americans began as a soldier in the United States Army in 1989. Having fought in Operation Desert Storm, Operation Desert Shield, Operation Enduring Freedom, and in 2003, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Master Sergeant Mittman was the All-American hero who never turned down defending his country. It wasn’t till his return to Iraq in 2005 as a special advisor to the Iraqi Department of the Interior, that he came face-to-face with death; changing his life forever.

Tragically, an improvised explosive device that exploded near his vehicle in Iraq, leaving Master Sergeant Mittman without a nose, lips, most of his teeth, and the majority of his vision. Since that time, he has endured more than 40 operations and spent over four years recovering physically and emotionally. To his great credit, he has traveled the country sharing the lessons he learned from these experiences with the world.

He is noted for saying it is the veteran who has to take that very first step to recovering and that he realized this after attending the Blinded Veterans Association Conference in 2006, where he met people who were blinded years ago who are now attorneys, teachers and business executives. After realizing life can be good in spite of having a disability, he decided to help others who also have disabilities find jobs and lead meaningful lives.

Master Sergeant Mittman, a 40-year old decorated warrior, husband of 17 years, father of two and outspoken military veteran was and forever will be an All-American hero whose determination and selflessness continue to serve our country and inspire our hearts. Today, we salute you.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                              CONTACT: Joshua Gillespie
April 12, 2010                                                                                             (317) 848-0201

Rep. Dan Burton Announces the 2010

Congressional Art Competition For Indiana’s 5th District

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - Each spring, a nation-wide school art competition is sponsored by Members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The annual competition, known as Artistic Discovery, is an opportunity to recognize and encourage the artistic talent in the nation and is now open to all high school students in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District, and will continue through May 14, 2010.

Upon opening his Congressional offices for submissions for this year’s competition, Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) issued the following statement:

“The annual Artistic Discovery Contest is an opportunity that gives well-deserved national recognition to the young artistic talent that exists locally. It’s also an encouraging event for students to get involved in the arts. I look forward to receiving all the submissions from Hoosier high school students in the 5th Congressional District.”

Background, Competition Rules and Information:

The Congressional Art Competition began in 1982 to provide an opportunity for Members of Congress to encourage and recognize the artistic talents of their young constituents. Since then, over 650,000 high school students have been involved with the nationwide competition.

The Artistic Discovery Contest is open to all high school students. The over-all winner of each district will be displayed for one year in the U.S. Capitol. In addition, each winner of this year’s Congressional Art Competition will be awarded two round trip airfare tickets from Indiana to Washington, D.C., courtesy of Southwest Airlines. All entries must be original in concept, design and execution.

Students who wish to enter the 2010 Congressional Art Competition may visit Congressman Burton’s website at: www.house.gov/burton. Click on “Assisting You” and look for the “Congressional Art Competition” link to find all the necessary guidelines and forms. Entries must be received no later than Friday, May 14, 2010. For more information please contact Elizabeth Tapia at 317-848-0201 or toll free at 1-800-382-6020.

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                              CONTACT: Joshua Gillespe
April 2, 2010                                                                                              (317) 848-0201

Rep. Burton Continues His Vigorous Fight For Hoosier Jobs

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Rep. Dan Burton sent the following letter to Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sallie Mae Albert L. Lord after President Obama signed into law the “Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010” reiterating his support for Sallie Mae’s employees. 

“Thanks to Sallie Mae, thousands of Hoosiers have good paying, high quality jobs.  I have met with Sallie Mae employees on multiple occasions and can’t tell you how many of them told me how much they value the work they are doing.  They know first-hand, and see on a daily basis, the benefit of having a vibrant private student lending industry.  I will carry on in my efforts to see that those jobs continue.”

The following is the letter sent by Rep. Burton:


March 31, 2010


Mr. Albert L. Lord
Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
SLM Corporation
12061 Bluemont Way
Reston, Virginia  20190

Dear Mr. Lord:

As you know, yesterday President Obama signed into law the “Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010” – striking a devastating blow against the SLM Corporation (Sallie Mae) and all private lenders who participated in the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP).  In short, the nightmare of the government takeover of the student loan industry, that you and I have fought to prevent for well over a year, is now a sad reality for the thousands of Hoosiers employed by Sallie Mae. 

As I have said repeatedly, liberty, Constitutional government, and our common values were trampled with the enactment into law of the government seizure of our health care and student loan industries. Despite our best efforts to convince them of the folly of this plan, the majority of Democrats in Congress and President Obama were unwavering in their drive to destroy a private industry that supports more than 35,000 jobs nationwide, with Sallie Mae accounting for about 8,600 of those jobs.  With unemployment continuing to hover near or above 10%, I am mystified why this Administration continues to pursue legislation that they know will kill good paying American jobs.  I know they were aware of the consequences of this bill because last April, I personally sent a letter to the President warning him about the dangers and asking him to support and maintain a strong commitment to the FFELP.  I also reached out to my Hoosier colleagues in the House and the Senate to join me in the fight. 

And then in July and September of 2009, with the President and his supporters remaining steadfast in their determination to eliminate the FFELP, I joined with Representatives Carter and Hoekstra on two separate occasions to offer amendments to bolster and preserve the FFELP to legislation pending on the House Floor.  Unfortunately, in the face of united opposition from the White House and Democrat Congressional Leadership, both amendments were denied an opportunity for a fair and open debate on the House Floor for an up or down vote.  I’m convinced had we had a fair opportunity to present
our amendments on the House floor we would have been successful in preserving the existing FFELP infrastructure and the thousands of jobs connected to it.  Unfortunately, we were denied that chance, and so for the moment at least, it looks like beginning on July 1, 2010, the government takeover of student lending will be realized. 

As long as I am privileged to serve in Congress, I will remain a strong supporter of the role of private industry in student lending and the FFELP legacy.  Thanks to Sallie Mae, thousands of Hoosiers have good paying, high quality jobs.  I have met with Sallie Mae employees on multiple occasions and can’t tell you how many of them spoke about much they value the work they are doing.  They know first-hand, and see on a daily basis, the benefit of having a vibrant private student lending industry.  I will carry on my efforts to see that those jobs continue.  If I can be of assistance to Sallie Mae’s employees in Indiana, please do not hesitate to contact me. 

                    Sincerely,



                    Dan Burton
                    Member of Congress


ATTACHMENTS:

PDF copy of Rep. Burton’s letter to Mr. Albert L. Lord

###

Decades of dramatically increasing costs, in both good economic times and bad, are threatening to push the dream of a college education out of reach for millions of American students and families. This is a national tragedy since the need for a college education is greater than ever because of global competition in our rapidly changing world.  

President Obama and Democrat Leaders in Congress believe that the solution to this problem is to Federalize the student loan industry. And, on March 30th, President Obama signed into law the “Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010” – making the Federal government the sole provider of college loans starting on July 1, 2010.

My Democrat colleagues trumpet this accomplishment as a great boon to college students; they say that millions more of Americans will now be able to afford a college education. In reality, this change will not be good for parents, students, universities, or American taxpayers. Nor is it good for the 35,000 Americans who currently work in the private student lending industry. The SLM Corporation, also known as Sallie Mae, the largest student loan provider in the country, estimates that it will be forced to cut 2,500 of its 8,600 employees and downsize from 25 locations nationwide to about 5-7, because of lost business.  Access Group Inc., another student loan provider, has already cut 50 workers as the volume of new loans dropped and is trying to retain its 365 remaining employees by servicing old loans; although it is unclear if they can retain all of these positions.  

While that may not seem like a lot of jobs in comparison to the automotive industry, which employs hundreds of thousands of workers, with the National unemployment rate running at nearly 10%, should the Federal government really be enacting policies that kill American jobs? More importantly, should the Federal government be killing American jobs to enact a policy that has already failed when it was tried twice before?   

The Federal government first experimented with direct loans in the early 1970s through the Federally Insured Student Loan (FISL) program. FISL was so poorly managed – and because the government was so ineffective at collecting the loans, default rates soared to astronomical levels – the program was eventually phased out in 1976.  

The Clinton Administration resurrected the idea of Direct Lending (DL) in 1993 when it pushed through Congress the Federal Direct Student Loan program. Once again though, the Direct Lending program's reputation became synonymous with slow, inefficient service. In response, Congress passed the “Higher Education Amendments of 1998” (P.L. 105-244) which specifically blocked the Clinton Administration from phasing out the private sector administered Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program.

History has shown us that Federal programs tend to adopt a one-size-fits-all approach and are often stagnated by inefficiencies and capacity failures. The Federal government’s previous experiments with Direct Lending to college students seem to bear this out. If you think this time will be any different, consider the fact that the government's Web site for handling student loans was broken most of Tuesday March 30th — the very day President Obama signed the law putting the government in charge of all subsidized student lending. Visitors to the site (www.studentloans.gov) early Tuesday afternoon saw an error message, while users Monday saw either an error message or, in the evening, were simply unable to connect to the site at all. This failure raises serious questions about how the Department of Education will manage to transition our Nation’s schools and millions of students to the government-run loan plan between now and July 1, when the loan changes take effect.

No one should really be surprised to see a massive government bureaucracy having technical difficulties.  No one should really be surprised either when the promised Billions in savings fail to materialize. The President and his supporters in Congress argue that having the federal government offer loans directly to students using Treasury capital will be cheaper for taxpayers; however, if history is our guide, there will be no real savings. Initially, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected savings of about $94 Billion over ten years. That has since been adjusted downward significantly to about $62 to $40 Billion. What should concern all Americans is that the “Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010” contains about $40 Billion in new entitlement spending. In other words, any potential savings to the taxpayer from consolidation would actually be lost to new additional spending.  

Since 1965, competition and choice in student loan delivery and support have been hallmarks of the FFEL Program. In this country, it is the private market that drives competition, sparks innovation, produces cost savings, and is customer-focused. Private sector student loan providers have pioneered value-added services, such as financial literacy default prevention programs that the Direct Lending Program either cannot or is not able to provide. According to an Ipsos Public Affairs survey, over 90% of the respondents feel that they should have a choice in loan providers, and 60% think that private lenders would offer them better customer service than the government.  

Typically, the White House and Democrat Congressional Leadership refuse to listen to the American people and so for the moment at least, it looks like beginning on July 1, 2010, the government takeover of student lending will be realized. 

More Americans will be out of work and nothing will have been done to reign in the skyrocketing uncontrolled cost of college tuition which is the real problem our students face, not the modest fees the Federal government paid to lenders to process student loans.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                              CONTACT: Joshua Gillespie
March 30, 2010                                                                                           (317) 848-0201

Rep. Burton Condemns the Government Takeover of the Student Loan Industry

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN-05) issued the following statement after President Obama signed into law the Senate Health Care Reconciliation Bill that included the government takeover of the student loan industry:

“Today is a sad day for Hoosiers.  The bill President Obama signed today will not only make health care insurance more expensive and the practice of medicine more restrictive, it will cripple a major employer in Indiana.  The student loan industry employs close to 35,000 Americans nationwide. In Indiana alone, student loan provider Sallie Mae employs 2,356 Hoosiers, 1,500 of those individuals reside in my district.  The bill signed today will kill a lot of those jobs. 

“For over a year now I have been fighting this takeover to protect Hoosier jobs.  I have met with Sallie Mae employees on multiple occasions; I have sent information to the President detailing the potential devastating effects this legislation would have on jobs in my district.  I have authored legislation to save these Hoosier jobs and prevent the Federal takeover of the student loan industry; and I have reached out to my Hoosier colleagues in the House and the Senate to join me in the fight.”

"At every turn the President and Democrats in Congress ignored my warnings in blind pursuit of their socialist agenda; because in the end, that is what this legislation is all about, not saving taxpayers money, or making it easier for Americans to afford a college education, it is about another government takeover of an American industry.”
 
"With unemployment continuing to hover near or above 10%, I don’t understand why this Administration continues to pursue legislation that will kill good paying American jobs.  But as long as they do, I am going to continue to fight against their job killing agenda."


Background:

In December of 2009, Rep. Burton authored a letter in support of Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) to a group of Senators who had Sallie Mae facilities in their states.  This was done as a follow-up to his meeting in November with Sallie Mae employees.

In November of 2009, Rep. Burton submitted an extension of his remarks on the House Floor acknowledging a Hamilton County Council resolution encouraging the preservation of Indiana jobs.  He also visited with Sallie Mae employees again to give them an update of the situation.  He also contacted Indiana Senators Richard Lugar and Evan Bayh. 

In September 2009, Reps. Burton and Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) proposed an amendment to Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 that would have preserved the Federal Family Education Lending Program and stopped the Federal Direct Lending Program from taking control of the student loan industry. The Democrat-controlled House Rules Committee voted to kill the amendment, thus preventing it from going to the whole House for debate and a vote.

In July 2009, Reps. Dan Burton and John Carter (R-TX) offered a measure that would have amended the 2010 Labor, Health & Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill to prohibit federal appropriations from being used to implement a proposal at the Department of Education that would eliminate the Federal Family Education Lending Program (FFELP) in favor of a Federal Direct Lending Program (FDLP). The Democrat-controlled House Rules Committee did not allow the amendment to be debated or voted on.

In April 2009, Rep. Burton visited Sallie Mae in Fishers and spoke to employees about how he would fight for their jobs, and against the FDLP legislation in Congress.

 
 

###