[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 20 (Tuesday, February 7, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H515-H516]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             STOP STUDENT LOAN INTEREST RATES FROM DOUBLING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Courtney) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, 2011 marked an unfortunate milestone in 
our country's financial picture when, for the first time in American 
history, student loan debt actually exceeded credit card debt, which 
again by itself is just a huge statement in terms of the challenges 
that families, middle class families and working families, are facing 
today in terms of trying to deal with the cost of higher education.
  The value of a higher education degree or post-high school degree, 
which is sometimes debated in the media, still I believe is 
indisputable, and the statistics certainly demonstrate that. At a time 
when our national unemployment rate is 8.3 percent, if you drill down 
deeper you'll learn that for those with less than a high school degree, 
the unemployment rate is 16.5 percent. Those with a high school degree, 
it's 10.7 percent. Those with some college is 8.5 percent, and those 
with a bachelor's degree or higher is 4.5 percent.
  So the stakes could not be higher for young people all across our 
country that we must deal with the mounting cost of higher education 
and provide mechanisms for them and their families to actually finance 
it and pay for it.

[[Page H516]]

  In 2007, the Democratic-controlled Congress passed the College Cost 
Reduction Act, which was a terrific measure that cut the interest rates 
for the Stafford Student Loan program, the federally subsidized student 
loan program which provided some stability and affordability for middle 
class families, from 6.8 percent down to 3.4 percent. In addition, we 
unfroze the Pell Grant program, which is the workhorse of paying for 
college education, all of it paid for by eliminating wasteful subsidies 
to banks. That measure has a sunset this July. The interest rate 
reduction of the College Cost Reduction Act will in fact expire on July 
1 unless Congress acts.
  President Obama in his State of the Union Address a few nights ago 
raised this issue before all of us in the House and Senate when he 
said: ``When kids do graduate, the most daunting challenge can be the 
cost of college. At a time when Americans owe more in tuition debt than 
credit card debt, this Congress needs to stop the interest rates on 
student loans from doubling in July.''
  Mr. Speaker, shortly after his address, myself and Congressman Peters 
from Michigan introduced H.R. 3826, which is a measure that would 
extend the 3.4 percent, the lower interest rates on the Stafford 
Student Loan program, and in just a few days we have accumulated 55 
cosponsors to this measure.
  Again, the math is crystal clear: If we do not act, if we do not 
maintain those interest rates at 3.4 percent, if Congress does nothing, 
the U.S. Public Interest Research Group has calculated that for those 
students who take out the maximum $23,000 in subsidized student loans, 
their interest payments will increase by $5,200 over a 10-year 
repayment period and $11,300 over a 20-year repayment period.
  Now, if you told middle class families that if Congress doesn't act 
on a measure like this, your out-of-pocket costs are going to go up 
$5,200 for taxes, there would be a huge hue and cry about the fact that 
Congress must not let that happen. Well, that's exactly the same 
situation we face today with the Stafford Student Loan program. Again, 
we know from the passage of the College Cost Reduction Act that this is 
something that this body is capable of doing.
  This past weekend I was with a family whose son is now in his junior 
year, and as an undergraduate has almost a perfect 4.0 grade average, 
very motivated to go into the health care field, and he has already 
accumulated $100,000 in student loan debt. We as a Nation must address 
this problem.
  The National College Board, which tracks graduation rates 
internationally, reminds us that back in the 1980s, the U.S. was number 
one in the world in terms of graduation rates. We have fallen to number 
12 according to the National College Board, and the biggest reason that 
students are not finishing college is because of affordability and 
cost. Again, the President laid out the challenge to the Congress in 
his State of the Union Address. We must not allow Stafford Student Loan 
interest rates to double on July 1.

                              {time}  1010

  We should pass H.R. 3826. We should get that to the President so that 
colleges and universities can help families plan their tuition payments 
for the upcoming year and not allow this country to go backwards in 
terms of making sure that we have the finest workforce in the world.

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