[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6897-6898]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          SUPPORT EXTENSION OF THE COLLEGE COST REDUCTION ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Courtney) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, in 45 days, the interest rate on the 
Stafford Student Loan program is going to double from 3.4 percent to 
6.8 percent.
  As millions of American families know, the Stafford Student Loan 
program is the workhorse for middle class students trying to pay for 
college. It is a program which has an affordable interest rate. It 
provides protections for students so that interest doesn't accumulate 
while you're actually in school. It provides a grace period after you 
graduate. And it also has a cap in terms of how much of your income has 
to be devoted to Stafford loan repayments.
  In 2007, as a freshman Member of Congress, I was proud to have been a 
cosponsor of the College Cost Reduction Act, which cut that rate from 
6.8 to 3.4 percent. It was a 5-year bill, like many measures that 
Congress passes; and that expiration, that sunset, will occur on July 
1, 45 days from today, when that rate will double back to 6.8 percent.
  Last week the Senate made an attempt to try and take up legislation 
to protect that lower rate. Sadly, the Republican minority used the 
filibuster rule to block not even just the bill, but even a debate on 
the bill. I repeat: they didn't even use the filibuster rule as a block 
of all Republicans to vote against the measure. They actually used the 
filibuster to even allow consideration of debate.
  And, again, the leader in the Senate made it very clear if they had 
alternatives to the Senate bill which would protect the lower rate, 
they were more than free to offer their own amendments.
  So here we are today, with students trying to plan for next fall's 
college, with kids getting their acceptance letters for next year, and 
yet they have no ability to budget or plan in terms of what the 
interest rate for this workhorse program to pay for college allows.
  Now, how did we get to this place?
  As I indicated, in 2007 we cut the rate. Back in January, President 
Obama stood at that very podium and challenged Congress to not allow 
the rate to double. For three solid months, nothing happened in this 
Chamber. There was not a single hearing at the Education and Workforce 
Committee. There was not a bill for markup. The only action was 
legislation that I proposed. H.R. 3826, which has over 150 cosponsors 
in this Chamber, on a bipartisan basis, which would lock in that rate 
permanently, has never been taken up for consideration.
  Two-and-a-half weeks ago, Speaker Boehner who, by the way, voted 
against the College Cost Reduction Act in 2007, rushed to the floor a 
bill for a 1-year Band-Aid, and used as a pay-for depleting resources 
and funds from a program that would help folks with heart, cardiac, 
cervical cancer screening, diabetes screening, early childhood disease 
screening. They took money out of that fund to help desperate Americans 
to try and put a 1-year fix on the student loan issue.
  President Obama made it very clear that bill is a dead letter. A veto 
threat

[[Page 6898]]

was issued even before we voted in this Chamber. So here we are 45 days 
away waiting for action.
  H.R. 3826, a measure which permanently locks in the lower rate, is at 
least a first step in terms of dealing with the crisis in this country 
of student loan debt, which now exceeds credit card debt and car loan 
debt. We have an issue here which threatens the future viability of 
this country to succeed and compete in the world global economy where 
we need a cutting-edge workforce if we're ever going to succeed in the 
future.
  Forty-six days from today we are going to be celebrating the 150th 
anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln signing into law a measure 
called the Moral Act. The Moral Act set up a national policy 
establishing land grant colleges in all 50 States in this country. Back 
then its mission was to establish programs for mechanical engineering 
and agricultural sciences.
  What an amazing act of vision and leadership. In the darkest days of 
the Civil War, 1862, President Lincoln still had the long view and 
understood that if, as a Nation, we are going to succeed, we need a 
national policy for higher education. And in his wake, the Stafford 
loan program was created, sponsored by a Republican, Robert Stafford of 
Vermont. The Pell Grant program was established by Claiborne Pell, 
Democrat of Rhode Island, all to provide the building blocks so that 
young people have that opportunity and the ability to pursue their 
dreams and to pursue their skill set, the true key of success in this 
Nation.
  We are a Nation that is blessed with great natural resources. We have 
the greatest military in the world. We have great financial 
institutions. But the real success of this country is our broad-based 
middle class where education provides the foundation for families and 
students to succeed.
  That clock is ticking. I started this running at 110 days, and we're 
now down to 45 days. It is time for the Senate Republicans to drop the 
filibuster, allow consideration of the bill to help middle class 
families as they deal with next year's tuition costs, and pass H.R. 
3826 in the House of Representatives.

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