[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10981]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          REPUBLICAN RAID ON STUDENT AID INCREASES LOAN COSTS

  (Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, with tuition costs 
rising and the availability of financial aid declining, many parents in 
our country are finding it harder and harder to afford the cost of 
college education for their sons and daughters. However, these families 
know the importance of having a college degree in today's economy. We 
really cannot underestimate the importance.
  Therefore, large numbers are relying on student loans to help meet 
tuition costs. While these loans can be a great resource to make 
college accessible to more students, they can also cause great 
financial hardships for the borrower when they graduate and the 
payments are due.
  The administration has supported making paying for these loans even 
more difficult by enacting their raid on student aid and cutting $12 
billion from the higher education budget. Because of these drastic and 
devastating cuts, interest rates on student and parent loans for 
college will increase significantly July 1.
  To avoid this dramatic increase in interest rates, I encourage all 
Federal student loan borrowers to visit www.loanconsolidation.ed.gov to 
consolidate their loans before July 1.

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