ASPIRE-Online

Governmental Relations Committee

Fellow ASPIRE members,

Dr. Arnold Mitchem at COE has informed me of the following:

In FIVE days, Tuesday, September 4, Senator Kennedy's HELP Committee and Congressman Miller's Education and Labor Committee are going to "conference" H.R. 2669, the Budget Reconciliation bill, otherwise known as the College Cost Reduction Act of 2007. The House version of the bill contains the Scott Amendment authored by Mr. Scott (VA) with the full support of the Congressional Black Caucus.

The Senate version of the bill, on the other hand, does NOT contain any similar or parallel language. Therefore, to get the Scott language into law, we have to persuade Senator Kennedy, the Chairman of the Senate
committee, and Senator Enzi of Wyoming, the ranking minority on the committee, to "recede to the House" when the Scott (TRIO) language is considered in the "conference." This means that the Senate agrees with
the House that the Scott language should be included in the "conference report" that will be sent back to both chambers for ratification.

The Scott amendment is important to Colorado, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming for three reasons: 1) It terminates the Absolute Priority; 2) it terminates the Upward Bound Evaluation; and 3) it secures immediate funding for every Upward Bound application that scored 70 or better. This will affect six UB programs in the ASPIRE region: two in Colorado (CSU-Pueblo & UNC), two in Montana (Flathead Valley CC & Ft. Belknap Indian CC), one in North Dakota (Turtle Mountain CC), and one in Utah (Ute Indian Tribe). Thus, if the Scott Amendment fails, approximately 300-350 low-income students in the ASPIRE region will not be able to participate in Upward Bound this year.

It is ESSENTIAL that every one of us contacts the two Senators in our respective states. It is IMPERATIVE that they be inundated with phone calls, email messages and fax letters. It is CRUCIAL that Republican Senators urge Senator Enzi to "recede to the House" on HR 2669 (Title IV, Part C, Sec 412). Additionally, ASPIRE members in Wyoming have a unique opportunity and obligation, as constituents of Sen. Enzi, to contact his HELP aide, Beth Buehlmann (beth_buehlmann@help.senate.gov), regarding this important issue.

I have provided a list below that will put you in touch with your Senators. If we, as ASPIRE members, take a few moments of our time to collectively contact our Senators, they will hear our message hundreds and hundreds of times!

If you need further clarification on any of these important issues, don’t hesitate to contact me (307-766-6189), your state president, or Maureen Hoyler or Heather Valentine at COE (202.347.7430). I’ve attached COE’s Summer Recess Packet to help you understand and verbalize these issues.

REMEMBER: our message on this issue to each Senator in the ASPIRE region is to persuade Senators Kennedy & Enzi, chair & ranking member of the Senate HELP committee, respectively, to “recede to the House,” when they conference with the House Education & Labor Committee on HR 2669 this Tuesday, September 4th. This will allow the Scott Amendment to be included in HR 2669 when it is returned to the House & Senate for ratification.

Your Senator's information is below. Each Senator's website displays LOCAL office numbers from across each state. Individuals in those offices can also be contacted.

Colorado

Allard, Wayne- (R - CO)
521 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5941
Web Form: allard.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home

Salazar, Ken- (D - CO)
702 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5852
Web Form: salazar.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm

Montana

Baucus, Max- (D - MT)
511 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2651
Web Form: baucus.senate.gov/contact/emailForm.cfm?subj=issue

Tester, Jon- (D - MT)
204 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2644
Web Form: tester.senate.gov/Contact/

North Dakota

Conrad, Kent- (D - ND)
530 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2043
Web Form: conrad.senate.gov/webform.html

Dorgan, Byron L.- (D - ND)
322 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2551
E-mail: senator@dorgan.senate.gov

South Dakota

Johnson, Tim- (D - SD)
136 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5842
Web Form: johnson.senate.gov/emailform.cfm

Thune, John- (R - SD)
493 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2321
Web Form: thune.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home

Utah

Bennett, Robert F.- (R - UT)
431 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5444
Web Form: bennett.senate.gov/contact/emailmain.html

Hatch, Orrin G.- (R - UT)
104 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5251
Web Form: hatch.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Offices.Contact

Wyoming

Barrasso, John- (R - WY)
307 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6441
E-mail: Senator_JBarrasso@barrasso.senate.gov

Enzi, Michael B.- (R - WY)
379A RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3424
Web Form: enzi.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInform...

THANK YOU for your SPEEDY advocacy on behalf of the deserving TRIO students in ASPIRE. Please contact your Senators ASAP and remember to contact them during non-work hours and from a personal e-mail address.

Michael Wade -- ASPIRE President
Associate Director
Student Educational Opportunity
University of Wyoming
336 Knight Hall
307-766-6189
mwade@uwyo.edu

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