[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 7399]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          STUDENT LOAN CRISIS

  (Mr. COURTNEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, in a few hours, one of the least 
productive, most unpopular Congresses in American history is going to 
go on another recess, despite the fact that in 43 days interest rates 
for the Stafford student loan program will double from 3.4 percent to 
6.8 percent on July 1, 43 days away from today.
  What's happened in the last week or so? The Senate Republican 
leadership led a filibuster to block not only the consideration of a 
bill to prevent this, but discussion or debate on a bill. In this 
House, after 3 months of stonewalling, Speaker Boehner brought a bill 
to the House which cynically took money out of a preventive health care 
fund for cancer and heart disease screening to pay for a 1-year Band-
Aid for Stafford student loans, a measure which the Hartford Courant 
this morning--the oldest published newspaper in America--described as 
``just sick.''
  My bill, H.R. 3826, will lock in the lower rate at 3.4 percent, 
providing students and families with a real horizon to budget for 
college. It has over 150 bipartisan cosponsors. It is time for us to 
move, fix this issue, and allow students and families the ability to 
plan for next year's college year.

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