Denny Rehberg: “As chairman of the Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Education, we have no objections to this amendment. I…”

“As chairman of the Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Education, we have no objections to this amendment. I have often said--jokingly, of course--that the reason the Internet is so successful in America is that the government hasn't figured out how to screw it up yet. Well, they are doing everything they can to screw up education. We can finally get an institution or a structure that is able to move very quickly to meet the needs of students, and this government is trying to create a bureaucracy to keep them from being successful, and it's inappropriate. The Department of Education is attempting to define, through a new regulation, what it means for someone graduating from a proprietary school to be gainfully employed. Wouldn't that be nice if we applied that same standard to our public school system around the country, that our students had to be gainfully employed before they received any money? This is a prime example of Federal overreach. Fear of this regulation is having a real economic impact now even before it goes into effect. Schools are already scaling back program offerings because of the threat of this 'gainful employment' regulation. And if it goes final, approximately 5.4 million students could be shut out of higher education by 2020. Portions of the regulation are set to go into effect July 1, 2011, so it is necessary to include this language in the continuing resolution.”