Do you know what H.R. 609 is?

Should you care?

Yes you should.

H.R. 609 is the bill to “Amend and Extend the Higher Education act of 1965.” It’s been slogging through committee forever, and last Friday (3/30/96) it was finally passed by the House on a mostly party line vote (221 - 199, with 14 Democrats and 18 Republicans switching sides). The bill is vast, complex and warrants intense scrutiny given the strategic imperative that education plays in our future. From a cursory reading (and by cursory we mean several hours), the bill should be retitled “A Bridge To Far” because for all of it’s efforts to increase access to higher education, it does not go far enough in addressing the real needs of 21 Century parents and students. However, the merits of the various provisions of the bill will be hashed out in days to come. Today I want to focus on Sec 112.

Do you know Sec. 112?

Of course not. No one bothers to look individual sections of a 418 page bill, including many members of the House. Since you don’t know what Sec. 112 is about, let me introduce this chillingly Orwellian bit of legislation to you: