A group of 32 attorneys general from across the United States urged Congress last week to enact new restrictions on the student-loan industry, saying their investigations continue to reveal "new levels of corruption and deception" that require a rapid response from lawmakers. The attorneys general, led by Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, are trying to maintain pressure on Congress at a time when competing priorities on Capitol Hill and political opposition from some colleges may be slowing their progress. The House of Representatives passed its version of a bill to regulate student loans, known as the Student Loan Sunshine Act (HR 890), in May by a vote of 414 to 3. Yet the Senate has not acted on the bill, and its lead sponsor, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who is chairman of the Senate's education committee, has proposed dealing with many of its provisions through debate on a bill introduced last week to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. This month Kennedy's committee released a 50-page report, backed up by a 530-page compilation of e-mail messages and other documents, showing that the practices criticized by Cuomo were routine and widespread. The practices involved payments of illegal or improper inducements at dozens of colleges by lenders both large and small, including several lavish, bank-paid trips for college financial-aid officials. Yet not everyone is signing up. Some lenders and colleges are waiting for federal action so they will have one consistent set of rules.