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WASHINGTON, DC – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after Seth Frotman, Student Loan Ombudsman at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, announced his resignation in a letter to Acting Director Mick Mulvaney. In the letter, Frotman says the Bureau has abandoned the very consumers it is tasked by Congress with protecting. “Seth Frotman’s resignation from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is further evidence that the Bureau’s current leadership is failing to do its job on behalf of America’s 44 million student loan borrowers. Mr. Frotman’s assessment that the Bureau has lost its independence and is now a political arm of the administration should be taken seriously. It not only reflects his personal experience, but it is also supported by the series of recent actions taken by the Bureau to weaken protections for students and their families.

WASHINGTON, DC – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) released the following statement in response to the Trump administration’s decision to eliminate the Gainful Employment rule, which was established by the Obama administration to set a clear enforcement standard for career programs and for-profit institutions that have a demonstrated history of leaving students with debt they cannot repay. “The Trump administration’s decision to eliminate – rather than revise or replace – the Gainful Employment rule is yet another example of its willingness to prop up low-quality for-profit colleges at the expense of students and taxpayers. According to the Education Department’s own analysis, this decision will cost taxpayers nearly $5 billion in federal financial aid, which will go to college programs that have failed to meet the existing standards and would have otherwise closed.

NEWPORT NEWS, VA – Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) will host two town hall meetings where he will provide an update to constituents on the ongoing efforts to sabotage the Affordable Care Act, the growing cost of the recent Republican tax cuts, and legislation he recently introduced to provide every student with the opportunity to earn a debt-free college degree. The first town hall is Monday, August 13th in Newport News, and the second town hall is on Tuesday, August 14th in Chesapeake.

WASHINGTON, DC – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the economy added 157,000 in July, with the unemployment rate at 3.9 percent. “Today’s jobs report highlights the failure of the Republican tax bill to improve the lives of hard-working Americans. The report shows that unemployment dropped to 3.9 percent but annual wage growth remained at a paltry 2.7 percent. Instead of benefitting workers or investing in new equipment, the massive tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy have been funneled into a wave of stock buybacks that overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest one percent. In fact, a recent report found that companies have distributed 57 percent of their tax savings to shareholders and just 7 percent to their workers.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03), Ranking Member of the Education and Workforce Committee, and Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-10), Ranking Member on the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter signed by 67 Members of Congress to the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) in response to the agency’s recent revisions to the Transgender Offender Manual. The revisions as written by the BOP make it harder for transgender prisoners to be placed in appropriate facilities and housing, increasing the likelihood of sexual assault and rape. “Prisoners should never face rape or sexual assault as part of their sentence and the Supreme Court agrees,” said Ranking Member Scott (D-VA) and Ranking Member Nadler (D-NY). “With these changes to the Transgender Offender Manual, the Bureau of Prisons will knowingly place transgender prisoners at risk by denying them appropriate facility placements – violating the bi-partisan and unanimously passed Prison Rape Elimination Act, as well as the Constitution’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishments.

WASHINGTON, DC – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Department of Education announced plans to form a negotiated rulemaking committee to rewrite rules regarding accountability in higher education. “The regulatory agenda announced today by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is an ominous sign for students and taxpayers. The current rules governing oversight and accountability in higher education reflect the responsibility and intent of Congress to create a system in which student and taxpayer dollars are spent on quality programs that prepare students for success. By initiating a process to weaken or eliminate those rules, Secretary DeVos is attempting to rewrite the Higher Education Act (HEA) in a way that undermines the quality of our higher education system and increases the opportunities for predatory institutions to profit by exploiting student financial aid.

WASHINGTON, DC ─ Today, Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03), ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Congressman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01), and Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), released a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Action Needed To Improve Participation in Education's HBCU Capital Financing Program. The members requested this report to review the capital finance needs of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).