[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 114 (Friday, August 2, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1214]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             BIPARTISAN STUDENT LOAN CERTAINTY ACT OF 2013

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                               speech of

                             HON. RUSH HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 31, 2013

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I oppose H.R. 1911, the Senate bill called the 
``Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act''. While some argue the bill is 
better than the bill the House passed earlier this year, this bill 
fails to guarantee that students can have affordable loans to go to 
college. It fails to take interest rates on college loans as low as we 
could or should, and it allows the rates to grow to truly unacceptable 
levels.
  Wall Street, whose reckless policies caused the greatest fiscal 
crisis since the Depression, is able to borrow money at 0.75 percent 
interest, yet under this bill, students will have to pay far more than 
that to borrow for their studies. Proponents of this bill claim that 
they are lowering interest rates for students, although they do not 
lower them as low as the rate we set several years ago and that was in 
effect until last month. Worse, the bill allows rates to go far higher 
than the already very high rates that began in July. Why? Why should 
students pay interest eight, nine, ten times higher than the rate that 
Wall Street pays. This bill will have some students paying interest 
rates as high as ten and a quarter percent. Ten and a quarter percent! 
Maybe not this year, but in future years. Ten and a quarter percent!
  This is a very serious issue for our overall economic health. Student 
loan debt now stands at over $1 trillion. It is the second highest debt 
in the nation, only mortgage debt is higher. Furthermore, to help our 
economy grow we should be encouraging motivated, prepared students to 
go to college, not making it more expensive and inaccessible for them. 
The New York Federal Reserve has noted that the tremendous burden of 
student debt is slowing the economy. People strapped with debt cannot 
buy a house, they cannot spend money to improve our economy, and they 
cannot make strides to further improve their quality of life.
  The authors of the legislation passed earlier this year and of this 
bill are stuck on the idea of trying to balance the budget on the backs 
of students and recent students. Why should they have to pay to restore 
the economy? They are not in a good financial position to pay for the 
misdeeds of Wall Street. Why shouldn't those made wealthy by Wall 
Street's misdeeds pay; they can afford it. In the past year, the 
federal government has already made more than $50 billion dollars in 
profit off student loan interest. Why should we continue to squeeze 
more revenue for the government out of students and former students?
  Senator Elizabeth Warren has it right. Her plan would allow students 
to borrow at the same rate Wall Street does, the discount rate, the low 
rate that banks pay. Why should Wall Street get to borrow money at the 
lowest interest rate while college students pay more? They shouldn't. 
We will saddle with heavy debt the very people we want to go out and 
build businesses and raise families and work toward the American Dream.
  This debate comes down to an important question of domestic policy 
and priorities. How important is it to us as a country to make college 
accessible for students so they can improve their lives and improve our 
country? We do it by making college more affordable--through increasing 
Pell Grants, by allowing students to borrow money at the same rates 
that Wall Street banks pay. We do it by not taking money from students 
to pay for the mess that Wall Street caused in the first place.

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