Roundup: Week of October 22 - October 26

Senate Prepares to Fight Bush on Labor, HHS, Ed Bill

The Senate set up a potential showdown with President Bush over spending following the passage Tuesday of the 2008 appropriations bill that finances the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Labor. The bill, which passed by a vote of 75-19, provides a total of $152 in discretionary spending, prompting a veto threat from the President because it is almost $11 billion over his request (spending on education is $4 billion above Bush's request). While the Senate bill passed with a large enough margin to be veto proof, the House version, which was approved in July, fell two votes short. Democratic Congressional leaders defended the legislation by putting it in the context of the Iraq War. "[Bush] does not understand that he's asking for almost $200 billion for this war in Iraq, and quibbling and fighting with us over $22 billion so that we can deal with some of the issues we face at home," said Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL). House and Senate appropriators now must conference to work out differences between the two versions of the legislation.

Tuition and Fees Far Outpace Inflation, Report Finds

Once again tuition and fees at public and private colleges last year rose by more than twice the rate of inflation, according to a report released Monday by the College Board. The survey, which is released annually, found that the average tuition and fees at public four-year colleges rose by 6.6 percent last year, to $6,185, and at private colleges by 6.3 percent to $23,712. With room and board added in, the average cost of attendance at public colleges is $13,589, and at private colleges is $32,307. In reaction to the report, Rep. George Miller, the California Democrat in charge of the House Education and Labor Committee, said that "develop[ing] strategies to help rein in increases in college tuition" would be a top priority for his panel.

DREAM Act Fails in Senate

The ongoing battle on immigration heated up in the Senate this week when Republican lawmakers blocked an effort by Democratic Congressional leaders to bring to the floor a bill that would have provided a way for young illegal immigrants to gain permanent resident status if they spend two years in college or the military. The motion to bring up the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act for debate garnered only 52 votes, well short of the 60 votes necessary to proceed. The bill would have granted permanent resident status to children who illegally came to the United States before turning 16, lived in America for five years, graduated from high school and completed two years in either college or the military. Following the motion's defeat, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), the bills sponsor, promised to keep promoting the legislation, although he gave no indication of when he would try to move forward with it again.