To:	COHEAO Membership
From:	Harrison Wadsworth, Executive Director Andrew Stringer, Washington DC Staff

July 15, 2004

July 15, 2004 As we reported earlier today, the House Appropriations Committee has approved a bill that would eliminate the Federal Capital Contribution for Perkins Loans in the Fiscal Year 2005 federal budget.  This would affect schools' 2006-2007 award year if it becomes law.  We understand that the full House will consider this legislation in September, and that the Senate Appropriations Committee will also probably consider it then.  Your action is essential to preserving funding for Perkins.

Please find attached a draft letter for you to send to all Representatives and Senators in your state asking that they support the Perkins Loan Program [the file is in Microsoft Word format]. Please take a look at this draft letter and, very important, customize it to fit your school or company, including placing the letter on your letterhead. It is important to point out that Perkins Loan Program helps students in your campus and state. In the letter are suggested places to insert this information. Also at the end, please put down how you can be contacted.

To obtain information on the Perkins Loan Program specific to your state and school, go to this address in the Department of Education's IFAP web site: http://www.ifap.ed.gov/cbpmaterials/0405CBCongreportApril8CoverLtr.html.   At the bottom of the document are links to information on Perkins FCC awards broken down by individual school, with state totals.   If you have any questions or need help accessing the information, contact Andrew Stringer at astringer@wpllc.net or 202-289-3903.

Finally, here is how and where to send the letters.  Paper mail is subject to delays, so we strongly suggest that you fax (preferable) or e-mail your letters.  Fax numbers are contained in the Congressional directory that COHEAO gave to attendees at the January Annual Meeting.  In addition, most Congressional web sites have the fax number, and all should have an email address.

If you don't have a directory, go to the House website for House members sorted by state: http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.html.  For your senators, go to www.senate.gov and use the pull-down feature to find who your senators are.  If you are from a large state and need help with this project, please let us know.

We also ask that you send us a copy of your letter after you have sent it.  You can e-mail the letter to astringer@wpllc.net or hwadsworth@wpllc.net or fax it to 202-371-0197.

Again, if you need any assistance or have any questions, please contact us at 202-289-3903.

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