[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 36 (Wednesday, February 28, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H699-H700]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS SCAM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, last week, President Biden 
announced a plan to cancel $1.2 billion

[[Page H700]]

in Federal student loans for 150,000 borrowers.
  As Americans, we have always followed a simple rule: If you take out 
a loan, you pay back the loan. It is time to call a spade a spade. This 
student loan scam isn't forgiveness; it is an election-year handout to 
President Biden's far-left voters to transfer debt to the American 
taxpayer. This gimmick transfers the burden of the loans from the 
students who took the loans onto every American taxpayer.
  Repaying these loans certainly has no personal benefit to 87 percent 
of taxpayers who don't have student loans and to the 100 million 
Americans who never attended college.
  This program takes advantage of Americans who are already struggling 
to support their families under the weight of President Biden's 
inflation. It is time to send a message to President Biden and his 
administration that we cannot allow hardworking Americans, who have 
kept their word and repaid their personal loans, to be ripped off by 
yet another pandering scheme to the far left.


                           Rare Disease Week

  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate 
Rare Disease Week.
  Right now, more than 25 million Americans and their loved ones are 
impacted by over 7,000 conditions which are classified as rare 
diseases.
  Since the Orphan Drug Act was enacted in 1983, more than 600 drugs 
have been developed to combat these illnesses and ultimately save 
lives. Now, because of President Biden's so-called Inflation Reduction 
Act, the environment that has allowed these treatments to develop is 
being threatened.
  This week, I am proud to be working alongside my colleagues to 
advance bipartisan legislation, the ORPHAN Cures Act, which would 
expand the orphan drug exemption for medicines with multiple 
indications involving rare diseases and cancers.
  It is critical that Congress acts to support research and development 
into treatments and therapies that address rare diseases and further 
work to ensure that patients have access to the care and treatment that 
they need.
  As we recognize Rare Disease Week, let's commit to standing with 
patients who are living with rare diseases, including pediatric cancers 
and diseases like cystic fibrosis, classified as rare, but they are not 
rare to the families and the patients who are suffering with them.
  Let's commit to working together to ensure that every patient, 
regardless of the rarity of the condition, receives the support, the 
care, and the treatment that they need.

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