[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 60 (Wednesday, April 25, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H2079]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       STUDENT LOAN INTEREST RATE

  (Ms. HOCHUL asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. HOCHUL. Madam Speaker, you had to look at their faces and right 
into their eyes to see the worry that these young people had.
  Just yesterday, I convened a roundtable of students at Daemen College 
in my district and we talked about the biggest concern on their mind. 
It wasn't their final exams; it was the knowledge that in 3 short 
months, if this body does not act, these young people will face a 
doubling of the interest rate on their student loans from 3.4 percent 
to 6.8 percent. These young people are afraid; they're concerned.
  I asked them what it would mean to them. One man who already has 
$120,000 in debt now said he would probably have to leave in order to 
start paying back his debt. One woman said she would probably have to 
take a fourth job on top of her third job. Another junior said he 
probably would not be back next year. Heartbreaking stories, ladies and 
gentlemen, but we can stop it from happening.
  You've got to ask: What's wrong with this picture? Banks are lending 
to each other at about zero percent. You can get a home mortgage loan 
for 3.9 percent. Why are our young people, who are doing nothing other 
than having a shot at the American Dream that each one of us had by 
getting a good education, why are they going to be strapped with this 
debt?
  I ask all of us to join in asking the House of Representatives 
leadership to allow us to vote on this bill.

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