[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5642]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             STUDENT LOANS

  (Mr. HIGGINS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. HIGGINS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to discuss an important issue to 
young America: that's access to affordable higher education.
  Young Americans today are graduating college with a degree but also 
with $25,000, $50,000, and $100,000 in student loan debt. Thirty-seven 
million people have outstanding student loan debt totaling over $1 
trillion. Two- thirds of the debt held by Americans under the age of 30 
is student loan debt.
  In 2007, a Democratic Congress cut the interest rate on student loans 
in half to 3.4 percent, but it is set to expire this summer, and 
allowing the interest rate to double would constitute a tax hike on 
students in middle America.
  In my western New York district alone, this rate increase would 
affect 62,000 students and their families. I urge my colleagues to take 
immediate action on this issue because all Americans deserve a fair 
shot at a good education.

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