[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 5987-5988]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      STUDENT LOAN INTEREST RATES

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, a woman from Nevada by the name of Amy 
Riley--a single mother from Las Vegas--was devastated when she was laid 
off 3 years ago because of her employer having little work. She wasn't 
in love with her job doing bookkeeping for a local construction 
company, but she loved the steady paycheck. Looking back on that pink 
slip, Amy views it, of course, as a setback in one sense, but she feels 
very good about the fact it gave her a second chance.
  Like many resourceful Americans who lost their jobs after the 
financial and housing markets collapsed, Amy took the opportunity to 
return to school. She enrolled in classes at the College of Southern 
Nevada and completed her associate's degree at the age of 33. Going 
back to school transformed her life. She got involved in the political 
process for the first time. During her whole time at school she 
maintained straight A's--a 4.0 grade point average--and was elected 
student body president. But she also racked up $20,000 in student loan 
debt.
  Amy doesn't regret the decision to go to the university. Not only has 
she gotten a second chance at college, she has shown her 14-year-old 
son the power of education. Still, working three part-time jobs and 
living on a few thousand dollars a year hasn't been easy. That is an 
understatement. It would have been impossible for her to get her 
education if she hadn't gotten her Federal student loans. But Amy will 
need more loans to complete her bachelor's degree at the University of 
Nevada-Las Vegas, where she starts classes this fall.
  For most students, taking on debt is the only way to turn dreams of 
higher education into a reality. The average student graduates with 
$25,000 in loan debt. On July 1, the interest rates on Federal loans 
are set to double for more than 7 million students. Unless Congress 
acts quickly, rates will jump from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. That 
will cost Amy and millions of other students at least $1,000. For a 
single mom working three part-time jobs, $1,000 is the difference 
between completing her bachelor's degree and simply dropping out of 
school. In Nevada, higher interest rates will affect 26,000 students. 
College is already unaffordable for far too many Americans, and we 
cannot afford to put higher education any further out of reach. So 
Senate Democrats have introduced a proposal to freeze student loan 
interest rates at current levels for a year, without adding a single 
penny to the deficit. Democrats will vote to advance that proposal 
tomorrow, before noon, and, hopefully, the Republicans will join us.
  The Republicans claim they share Democrats' goal of protecting these 
7 million students I have talked about from these interest rate 
increases. We will see. But they insist we should pay for this proposal 
with unreasonable cuts to preventive health care services for millions 
of Americans. This is a program that is so vitally important to the 
health care delivery system in this country. Senators Mikulski, Harkin, 
and others have worked very hard to maintain this program. It is so 
essential. Republicans know their proposal would never pass the 
Senate--never--and President Obama has said he would veto more cuts to 
crucial preventive health care. But there is already a

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compromise on the table. Our legislation closes a loophole that allows 
the rich to avoid paying taxes they already owe. Our proposal is not a 
new tax. It would simply stop wealthy Americans from dodging the taxes 
they are required to pay. If Senate Republicans are truly serious about 
protecting 7 million students, they will work with us to pass this 
reasonable proposal.

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