Tragically, student loan debt sits at approximately $1.5 trillion in the United States. In the 1970s, Congress decided that when a person declared bankruptcy, student loan debts would no longer be discharged, except under extraordinary circumstances.The logic behind this was that if an individual declared bankruptcy and their mortgage was discharged, the bank could then collect the deed and re-sell the house. There is no way for a lender to re-coup the original investment of a college degree.

That was the reasoning behind the decision at the time, but we see a different story in reality.

If there is no risk of the federal government and private lenders losing money through the bankruptcy process, then these actors have no reason to responsibly lend to student borrowers. In turn, institutions of higher education, who have little accountability and access to an endless pool of student aid dollars, continue to inflate the cost of tuition for our students.

As a member of the House Education and Labor Committee, one of my top priorities is to find solutions to the student loan debt crisis and combat the problem of skyrocketing tuition prices. This week, I introduced H.R. 5899. My bipartisan bill will pave the way for responsible student lending and reasonable tuition prices by making student loan debt dischargeable in the bankruptcy process.

Out-of-control student loan costs and wasteful spending, coupled with high tuition prices, must come to an end for the sake of our students. That is why I will continue to seek out common sense solutions to ensure that students are not saddled with unsustainable debt from the minute they graduate.

This week, we received great news. Apprehensions at our Southern border were down again in January, marking the eighth straight month. In May 2019, over 140,000 individuals were processed at our Southern border. In January 2020, an estimated 30,000 individuals were apprehended at our Southern border- a 78.6 percent decrease. This is undoubtedly a win for America and great news for our national security.  

First, I would like to thank President Trump for his unwavering commitment to combating illegal immigration. We are not only experiencing a decrease in apprehensions at our border, but also now have help from Mexico in stopping illegal crossings and taking care of those trying to come to the United States for asylum due to reforms put in place by the Trump administration.

One problem that is not discussed enough is the role of the Mexican cartels at our southern border. They lure families and individuals to cross the border illegally with the false hope of being able to come here without consequence. President Trump’s policies have disincentivized people from paying the cartels to transport them to the U.S. illegally. The stories you hear of people arriving at our border malnourished, wounded and on the brink of death are because of their grueling journey through the Mexican desert and their horrific treatment by the cartels. I believe that policies that work toward stopping these career criminals from benefitting financially off of innocent people being used as pawns is a step in the right direction.

By building the wall at our Southern border and ensuring our border patrol agents have the resources they need to do their jobs, there is a reduced incentive to illegally enter our country, thus lowering the number of families abused by cartels. That is why I am proud that President Trump proposed an additional $2 billion in his requested budget to fund the wall at our Southern border earlier this week.

This does not mean that I, or President Trump, want to reduce legal migration. When comparing the United States with the 28 countries making up the European Union (EU), in 2017, the last year EU numbers are available, the U.S. swore in 37.5 percent more citizens based on overall population. I want to keep bringing the world's best and brightest into America, and I would even like it if more immigrants came to our country legally. But, that is the key word, legally. This is an important distinction because legal immigration is both good and safe for the individual immigrants and the United States, while illegal immigration is dangerous for our country and the people crossing the border illegally.

• The fallout from the attempted impeachment of President Donald Trump, which received bipartisan opposition.
• President Trump's State of the Union address, which not only recounted the many achievements of the Trump administration's first three years, but also outlined what we have left to achieve.
• The Democratic Presidential primary candidates and 2020 election. As the 2020 Democratic field continues to dwindle, we see that the remaining candidates carry extreme views, such as a government takeover of our health care system.
• The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which I outlined in last week's newsletter as a major invasion of privacy for employees. This bill would require employers to hand over personal information, such as telephone numbers and home addresses, to unions.