[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 64 (Tuesday, May 8, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H2337]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     OBSTACLES TO HIGHER EDUCATION

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, if we don't act within the next 53 days, 
what we are going to see is the student loan interest rate double from 
3.4 percent to 6.8 percent for more than 7.5 million students. I 
understand that basically that means a student would rack up an 
additional $1,000 in debt each year that the student interest rate 
stayed at 7 percent instead of 3 percent. The fact of the matter is, we 
have to do something about this.
  Last week during our district office week, I went to Rutgers 
University, Mr. Speaker, and I met with students. They were in the 
middle of their final exams. They reject outright this Republican idea 
that we should take money from women's or children's health care, from 
the prevention fund, to pay for this. There has got to be a better way 
of doing it that we must approach on a bipartisan basis. But I heard 
the stories at Rutgers about the students and how much debt, crushing 
debt, they had. Not only those who had debt from their undergraduate 
days, but also many students who have to go on to graduate school or 
law school or medical school and accumulate even more debt.
  We need to address this problem immediately with regard to the 
student interest rate. We have got to keep it low. But we also have to 
address the larger issue of college affordability over the long term. 
There has to be more money for student loans and for grants. College 
affordability is something that we need to address in a major way, Mr. 
Speaker.

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