CHALLENGER ATTACKS SOUDER LAW ON DRUGS, COLLEGE AID

WASHINGTON - Rep. Mark Souder, R-3rd, hasn't done enough to change the
federal government's policy about financial aid for college students
who have drug convictions, Democratic congressional candidate Maria
Parra said Friday.

Parra, who hopes to beat the five-term incumbent, said denying grants
or scholarships to people who have been convicted of using or selling
drugs does not help people with drug problems.

"If anything," she said, "the law perpetuates the cycle of addiction
and denies aid to those who need it most."

An amendment Souder authored six years ago put restrictions on who can
receive government aid to attend college.

Souder said the Clinton and Bush administrations interpreted the rule
too restrictively, leading to the limitation or denial of aid to
anyone who had previously been convicted of drug offenses.

Souder said he intended his provision to apply to students who were
already enrolled in college.

A bill he sponsored last year included a provision to encourage the
Department of Education to stop making it difficult for some college
students to receive financial aid.

The House passed the bill, but the Senate has not.

Parra called this effort "too little too late."

The provision says students who are convicted of drug offenses can't
get federal scholarships or loans for one or two years, or, after
three convictions, ever.

"I believe people change," Souder has said numerous times when asked
about the provision. He said it doesn't make sense to penalize a
former drug user or seller who is trying to improve his or her life.

The Department of Education has said about 20,000 people have been
ineligible for financial aid in the past three academic years because
of prior drug convictions.

In the past two academic years, about 15,000 others refused to answer
a question about whether they have a drug conviction; those people
also are ineligible for aid.

Parra said "150,000 would-be students have been denied aid" since
2000.

She said the rule "disproportionately affects minority students who
have higher drug conviction rates than whites.

"Officials in Washington like Congressman Souder should not create
obstacles for students to better their lives through education. They
should help create opportunities, not extinguish them."

Although Souder has often said that the Education Department is
enforcing the rule more harshly than he intended, Parra said "the
truth is that Rep. Souder is only responding to political pressure to
repeal his own misguided policy."

Souder and Parra are competing in the Nov. 2 congressional election.
The winner will represent northeast Indiana in Congress for the next
two years.