April 20, 2007

PHONE ZAP!

Senator Clinton is waiting to hear from you!

A federal law that denies student loans and other financial assistance to students convicted of drug offenses is already failing - enough calls to the U.S. Senate and it should flunk for sure.

Congress has already weakened the law - part of the Higher Education Act (HEA) - once before, but it still affects tens of thousands of students. Since the legislation took effect, roughly 200,000 students have been denied aid. These young people, who have already been punished for their offenses, are dropping out of school because they cannot afford the skyrocketing cost of tuition without aid.

The U.S. Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee votes early next week on reauthorizing the Higher Education Act. New York's own Sen. Hillary Clinton is on the committee: Give her a ring and ask her to repeal the HEA provision that denies student loans to students convicted of drug offenses. You can add that the law perpetuates drug abuse by denying students access to higher education and economic opportunity.

If you're not a New Yorker, click here to find out whether your senator is on the HELP Committee.

For more information on the Higher Education Act, click here.

The Housing Works AIDS Issues Update is reported, written and edited by Diana Scholl, David Thorpe, Phil Fox Rose, Christine Campbell, terri smith-caronia and Housing Works staff. Send your feedback, leads and story ideas to d.scholl@housingworks.org.

You can reach us by phone at 212-967-1500 x168, by fax at 212-868-4222, and by email at d.scholl@housingworks.org. Housing Works provides housing, advocacy and services to homeless people living with AIDS and HIV. Housing Works is the nation's largest community-based AIDS organization and the nation's largest minority-controlled AIDS organization.

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