Media

Sallie Mae to Pay $2 Million to Settle Lending Probe (Update2)

Karen Freifeld, Bloomberg - April 11, 2007

SLM Corp., the largest student loan company, will pay $2 million and adopt a new code of conduct to settle an investigation by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo into deceptive loan practices and college kickbacks.

The settlement amount paid by SLM, also known as Sallie Mae, will be added to $2 million Citigroup Inc. will pay to educate parents and students about student loans, Cuomo said today in a press conference in Manhattan.

The article also gives some background on the investigation:

Jonathan Karl, ABC News - April 10, 2007

ABC News has learned that the Pentagon is considering extending the tours of duty for every active duty soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Forget small extensions and trickles of National Guard troops. Under the proposal, deployments for active duty soldiers would be extended from the current 12 months to 15 months. Senior Defense Department officials say the idea has already been presented to Defense Secretary Gates. A decision is expected as early as this week.

The bi-partisan Congressional delegation Speaker Pelosi led to the Middle East last week and which I was proud to join went abroad without any illusions. We understood clearly the challenges to peace and security in the region. What's more, while there, we were entirely committed to defending America's principles and goals in every way possible.

April 10, 2007

The Honorable Robert M. Gates

Secretary of Defense

The Pentagon

Washington, DC 20301

Dear Mr. Secretary:

As you know, I am very concerned about Army readiness. Testimony before the House Armed Services Committee has confirmed that the Army is under enormous stress and strain because of frequent deployments to Iraq. Our non-deployed forces are facing serious readiness challenges as well.

The hearing will focus on the death of Army Ranger Specialist Patrick Tillman in Afghanistan and the capture and rescue of Army Private Jessica Lynch in Iraq. The Committee will examine why inaccurate accounts of these two incidents were disseminated, the sources and motivations for the accounts, and whether the appropriate Administration officials have been held accountable.

Specialist Tillman was killed near Manah, Afghanistan on March 22, 2004. Although the Defense Department reported that he had been killed by enemy combatants, it was later disclosed that Tillman's death was the result of friendly fire.