Higher Ed Groups Support Voting Rights
Forty-eight higher education groups, including the American Council on Education, have issued a statement opposing efforts, currently being pursued in several states, to make it more difficult to vote. "We strongly oppose the many efforts currently underway across the nation to suppress voting by qualified voters. We stand with all who seek to expand rather than restrict voting and civic participation. We are particularly concerned with proposals that would roll back some of that progress by raising barriers to student voting, including prohibiting students from using their campus addresses to register or qualify for absentee ballots," the statement says. "Exercising the right to vote should not be controversial or challenging. The right to vote defines us as a nation. We call on lawmakers to take action to ensure that civic participation in America continues to move forward, not backward, and that the United States has the most inclusive and equitable democracy in the world." ( Inside Higher Ed - Apr. 14, 2021)
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$50K of Student Loan Forgiveness Would Wipe Out Federal Debt for 36M, New Data Shows
More than 36 million Americans would have their federal student loans completely erased if the Biden administration were to accede to progressive demands to cancel up to $50,000 per borrower, according to new data from the Education Department. The federal data was released on Tuesday by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who requested the information from the agency earlier this month. The data provides more granular insight into how sweeping student loan forgiveness would affect the federal government’s $1.5 trillion student loan portfolio than is available from the department’s existing public datasets. Less expansive student loan cancellation of $10,000 per borrower—which Biden backed on the campaign trail—would completely wipe out the debts of 15 million borrowers. About 4.6 million of those borrowers were in default or delinquent at the end of 2019. ( Politico - Apr. 13, 2021)
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Democrats Demand Lift on Fetal Tissue Research Restrictions
Vital scientific research on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), spinal cord injuries, and Parkinson’s disease are at risk of stalling if the Biden administration doesn’t lift restrictions to use fetal tissue in clinical research, 26 Democrats said in a letter sent to the HHS Tuesday. The Department of Health and Human Services banned scientists who work for the National Institutes of Health from using fetal tissue in 2019. A Trump-era policy also severely curtailed access to federal funding for outside scientists looking to use fetal tissue in biomedical research. When a new administration took over, scientists hoped President Joe Biden would pull back the fetal tissue ban and make funding more readily available for scientists looking to use it. So far that hasn’t happened. Fetal tissue will merely be discarded if not used for scientific research, the letter said. ( Bloomberg - Apr. 13, 2021)
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Obama Alums, Police Chief Named to Lead Immigration Agencies
President Joe Biden has tapped a number of Obama administration alumni to lead key immigration agencies within the Department of Homeland Security, the White House announced Monday. Biden will nominate Ur Jaddou to lead U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that processes visa requests and other immigration benefits, following two years without a permanent leader. Jaddou, widely rumored for months to be a top contender for the role, most recently led the Biden administration’s DHS transition team. Before that, she worked at America’s Voice, an immigration advocacy group, and served as chief USCIS counsel during President Barack Obama’s second term. Biden will also nominate Chris Magnus, currently the police chief in Tucson, Ariz., to lead U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which oversees trade and travel through U.S. entry ports and enforces immigration laws at the nation’s borders. Both of those roles require Senate confirmation. ( Roll Call - Apr. 12, 2021)
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