Amodei Votes Against Resolution to Repeal Rule Benefiting Students & Taxpayers

Statement

Congressman Mark Amodei (NV-02) released the following statement today after voting against H.J. Res. 76, the Borrower Defense Rule, a resolution that would repeal President Trump's new rule to protect student borrowers while holding higher education institutions accountable, which is set to go into effect in July. H.J. Res. 76would replace the new rule with an Obama-era regulation that would harm students and taxpayers.

"If the federal government wants to completely forgive student loans, they should not use fraud accusations against institutions to do so on a wholesale basis. The Obama regulations failed to distinguish between fraud and inadvertent mistakes made by schools, a critical mistake considering the Department of Education can inflict significant financial penalties on institutions suspected of engaging in fraud, ultimately causing the institution to close despite no intentional offense.

"Going back to the Obama-era rule would completely undermine the Trump Administration's efforts to protect students under a rule that applies to all institutions. Additionally, students must provide evidence that they were actually harmed, a process that should already occur, especially if the claim is that a loan should be completely forgiven due to fraud. At a time when student enrollment at U.S. colleges is down by 11 percent from 2011, I believe students should be protected from institutions engaging in fraudulent activities to boost enrollment. However, I believe that such claims should be backed with evidence on the part of the student, a common-sense approach which is supported by the President's rule.

"Finally, the Obama Administration's borrower rule cost taxpayers $40 billion based on its broad implementation. If we let President Trump's rule go into effect this summer, it's expected to save taxpayers $11 billion while holding all institutions -- not just for-profits -- accountable for misrepresentations."

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